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VOL. XXIX NO. 44 2 Sections 24 Pages P18 SATURDAY : MARCH 28, 2015 www.manilastandardtoday.com editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Co-pilothad historyof depressionA3

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Comelec getsready formanual count B5

PNOY SETSREVIEW OFBANGSA LAW

Preparing for Palm Sunday. Two women turn palm leaves into attractive palaspas that will be brought to church by the Catholic faithful for the traditional blessing tomorrow, Palm Sunday, the start of Holy Week. SONNY ESPIRITU

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Senate blasts ‘usurpation’ by new body

PNoy orders own BBL reviewA2

Another speech. President Benigno Aquino III delivers a speech during the opening ceremony Friday of the 30th convention of the Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the SM Mall of Asia. MAlAcAñAng Photo

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Aquino made the call in a national television address marking the first anniversary of the Comprehensive Agree-ment on the Bangsamoro that the government signed with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

“The Bangsamoro Basic Law is one of the most im-portant proposed bills of our administration,” Aquino said in his address where he also warned lawmakers to pass the bill or start counting “body bags.”

He warned it would be dif-ficult to restart peace talks if the current process failed and the MILF leadership lost its influence among its members to more radical elements.

Aquino said he is fully aware that the Mamasa-pano incident last January 25, where 44 Special Action Force troopers died, have sowed doubt in the minds of Filipinos and has supposedly pushed aside the objective evaluation of the BBL.

“To address this, I am in-viting citizen leaders known for their wisdom and integ-rity to stand as independent convenors,” said Aquino.

He named those who will be convening the peace sum-mit as Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, former Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr., businessman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, former Am-bassador Howard Dee and peace advocate Bai Rohaniza Sumndad-Usman.

Aquino said they will gath-er other responsible and re-spected leaders to spearhead the national peace summit to “deliberate on and discuss the BBL” which is already being considered by legislators who have criticized many provi-sions as unconstitutional.

“If the proposed bill is lacking, it can be addressed by pushing through with the debates on it. With the con-tinuation of hearings about the BBL in Congress, each one is given an opportunity to understand the proposed bill,” he said.

“We believe an initiative that arose out of good inten-tions can be fixed by those who likewise have good in-tentions towards their fellow-men,” said Aquino.

The citizen leaders, Aqui-no said, will “dissect the proposed law in a calm and reasonable manner that will not incite anger and hope-lessness.”

“This way, the BBL can be improved. They will write a report that will be made pub-lic, so that everyone may be informed, and so that more of our countrymen may un-derstand the matter. In this manner, we will be able to ad-vance a reasonable decision as regards the Bangsamoro Basic Law,” Aquino said.

Presidential Communica-tions Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the national peace summit was meant to “enrich the quality of the democratic dialogue and hopefully lead our repre-sentatives in Congress to a deeper understanding of the imperative of promoting the peace process in Mindanao.”

Coloma said the summit was envision to be “a private sector initiative that will be funded by them, too.”

But neither Aquino nor Coloma specified how the proposed national peace summit would affect the on-going congressional delibera-tions on the measure.

Instead, Aquino said law-makers should pass the bill or they would start counting “body bags”.

“I do not pursue peace just to add to my legacy. What we are pursuing is a genuine peace that truly addresses the roots of the problems that led to violence. At this point in our history, I say to all of you: The BBL will make this a re-ality,” Aquino said.

Aquino had wanted the bill, which would give auton-omy to the majority Catholic nation’s Muslim minority in the south, passed this month.

But Congress suspended debates on the proposed law in the face of public outrage over the killings of 44 police commandoes by Muslim guerrillas in a botched anti-terror raid in January.

“This is the crossroads we face: we take pains to forge peace today, or we count body bags tomorrow,” Aquino said in a nationwide television ad-dress.

“Perhaps it is easy for you to push for all-out war,” he said, hitting out at critics who have condemned the peace deal with the MILF.

“But if the conflict grows, the number of Filipinos shooting at other Filipinos will grow, and it would not be out of the question that a friend or loved one be one of the people who will end up inside a body bag.” – With AFP

By Macon R. Araneta and Maricel V.cruz

SENATORS on Friday criti-cized President Benigno Aquino III for creating a Council of Elders to look into the Malacanang-drafted Bangsamoro Basic Law that is now being reviewed by both House of Congress, but was temporarily stalled due to the Mamasapano incident in which 44 police commandos were killed on Jan. 25.

“Isn’t it the job of the Sen-ate and the House of Rep-resentatives to review the BBL?” Senator JV Ejercito said in a text message.

He said whatever the findings of the proposed Council of Elders, the BBL would still need to be ap-proved by Congress.

In a separate text message, Senator Ferdinand Marcos

Jr., chairman of the Senate’s local governments commit-tee who is conducting pub-lic hearings on the Malaca-ñang-drafted Bangsamoro Basic Law, strongly reacted to the President’s move.

“It seems to be an attempt to sway the public to sup-port the BBL,” Marcos said.

House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and Reps. Ru-fus Rodriquez and Elpidio Barzaga Jr. said the inputs from citizens on the BBL would be of great help.

But Reps. Rodolfo Albano III, Silvestre Belo III and Jon-athan de la Cruz said getting inputs from other sectors of society was useless.

Senator Grace Poe said she agreed on the move of Presi-dent Noynoy Aquino in cre-ating a Council of Elders, but noted that Congress must be given first the opportunity to

come up with a constitution-al version of the Bangsamoro Basic Law.

Poe said Manila Arch-bishop Cardinal Antonio Tagle, former Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. and busi-nessman Jaime Zobel, who are among the members of the commission who would enlighten the Filipinos on the provisions and goals of the BBL, had the credibility and trust of many.

“By having respected leaders of society analyze, suggest amendments if any and objectively present the BBL, the public may be more inclined to keep an open mind, understand and perhaps even support the measure,” Poe said.

However, before these eminent people were given the chance to help in com-municating to all Filipinos

the goals and the practi-cal necessity of a political settlement toward peace and development in Muslim Mindanao, the BBL must go through Congress.

But Ejercito echoed Poe’s view that it could help in-crease the people’s aware-ness on the specific provi-sions of the BBL

Marcos said the BBL would be useful if the dis-cussions were objective. In this way, he said, the public would see the pros and cons of the BBL

“It will allow them to form their opinion,” he said in a text message.

Ejercito said he believed the main issue on the BBL was trust.

“The BBL has to do a lot of things to bring back the people’s trust on them,” Ejercito said.

By Sandy Araneta

EVEN as Congress considers the Palace’s proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, President Benigno S. Aquino III yesterday called on “citizen leaders” to convene a national peace summit to review the measure that lawmak-ers have found to be replete with constitu-tional infirmities.

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No clemency for death row convict

Senatorsurge publicto supportEarth Hour

Manual count readieddespite impeach threat

Prescription for PNoy. Members of health workers’ organizations stage a protest outside the University of the Philippines Manila campus Friday to call on President Benigno Aquino III to resign. DANNY PATA

Protecting themselves. Members of the Manila Police Department cover their heads during an earthquake drill Friday at their headquarters. SONNY ESPIRITU

DESPITE the threat of impeachment for failing to automate the 2016 elec-tions, the Commission on Elections said on Friday reverting to manual polls is still more preferable than postponing the elec-tions scheduled for May next year.

“Manual elections is better than no elections,” said acting Comelec chair-man Christian Lim “Having no elec-tions will be unacceptable to many.”

Lim reiterated the possibility of re-verting to manual elections after the Su-preme Court stopped the controversial P268-million diagnostic and repair deal the Comelec awarded to the Smartmat-ic-TIM consortium.

Lim said deferring the national elec-tions might trigger a “civil war” even as Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, who has been supportive of Smartmatic, said going back to manual voting is un-acceptable and Comelec officials may be impeached.

Rodriguez said reverting to manual elections will bring back the dark ages of dagdag-bawas [vote shaving and pad-ding] and such as scenario would violate the election automation law, a basis to impeach the Comelec commissioners.

But Comelec spokesman James Ji-menez said the poll body will do every-thing possible to ensure automated elec-tions in May next year.

“A return to manual elections is not as rosy as some may think. It is not a nos-talgic return to paradise as one would like to believe,” Jimenez said.

He said reverting to manual polls would mean additional costs to pay public school teachers, poll clerks and administrative staff, among others.

“This is aside from the return of the threats of vote-buying, ballot-snatching and vote-padding and shaving,” Ji-

menez said.The SC ruling stopped the refur-

bishment of at least 81,000 old precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines, which are supposed to serve as the pri-mary automated election system next year, supplemented by additional optical mark reader machines.

Members of the House committee on suffrage and electoral reforms have already warned against the possibility of returning to manual polls if the SC fails to resolve the issue surrounding the implementation of the extended war-ranty contract signed by the Comelec and Smartmatic.

Rodriguez had earlier said the tem-porary restraining order issued by the SC effectively put the Comelec’s prepa-rations for 2016 elections to a standstill, including the procurement of the lease contracts for new voting machines.

“If we delay the bidding of PCOS ma-chines any further, there’s a possibility that we’ll go back to manual elections next year. That will be like going to the dark ages of Dracula, where there’s dag-dag-bawas,’” he said.

Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga, who also supports Smartmatic, said the TRO practically ties the Comelec’s hands since it also cannot hold the bidding for transmission technologies and other al-lied services.

“With the TRO, the hands of the Com-elec are practically tied. All the prepara-tions for the 2016 national elections are in suspended animation. Elections, which is the bedrock of democracy, might be in grave peril, most especially the automated election system,” he said.

The poll body’s preparation for next year’s presidential elections has already been set back a few months after the Comelec failed to bid out the lease con-tracts for new voting machines and the transmission solutions.

The Comelec wants to lease an ad-ditional 23,000 optical mark reader machines for the 2016 elections to sup-plement the existing 82,000 PCOS ma-chines used in previous polls.

The number of voters in a clustered precinct would be reduced from 1,000 in 2013 to 800 next year if the additional voting machines can be leased.

By Macon R. AranetaSINCE the Philippines was named the top country most affected by climate change in 2013, senators have called on the public to support global movement to simultaneously switch off lights for one hour from 8:30 p.m. today in observance of the 2015 Earth Hour.

Senator Sonny Angara filed a resolution reaffirming the support of the Senate for the objectives of Earth Hour and Earth Day after the country was tagged as the country most affected by climate change by the 2015 Global Climate Risk Index study of the en-vironmental organization German Watch.

The Philippines was followed by Cambo-dia, India and Mexico in the list of countries most affected by weather-related disasters such as storms, floods, and heatwaves.

“This year, Earth Hour has a global fo-cus on climate change. Given our vulnera-bility to natural disasters, the objectives of these celebrations are particularly relevant to our country,” Angara said.

Legarda, author of the Climate Change Act, encouraged all Filipinos to show our solidarity with the rest of the world in an ef-fort to save energy, reduce carbon emission and raise awareness on sustainability and environmental challenges.

“People are oftentimes overwhelmed with the gargantuan task of protecting the environment, without realizing that the small acts ignite greater action and result in significant achievements,” she said.

Even shopping malls has been joining Earth Hour with the number of malls taking part in the hour-long lights our in-creasing every year. This year, it will be a a night of stargazing at 58 SM malls all over the Philippines and in China in celebra-tion of Earth Hour.

For one hour, lights at 58 SM Supermalls all over the country and six in China will be switched off in celebration of Earth Hour.

During the switch off, participants will be able to gaze at the stars, planets and constellations through the telescopes that will be placed in strategic areas in some of the participating malls.

Angara said our support for Earth Hour and Earth Day should not waver.

“I call on the public to show once again to the world our solidarity in combating climate change. More importantly, we must go beyond one hour in showing our commitment to the planet by taking ac-countability for our ecological footprint and engaging in dialogue and resource exchange to provide real solutions to our environmental challenges,” Angara said.

By participating in Earth Hour, Lsgarda said we are showing our commitment to cre-ate more sustainable and resilient communi-ties. We only have to take that one important step, which is to take action, to save and pro-tect our planet.

She said the Earth Hour campaign shows us what each citizen can do. It tells us that every individual is capable of pro-tecting our planet. Small acts cannot be underestimated because these small acts, when put together, create big changes.

By Vito BarceloINDONESIA’S Supreme Court rejected an appeal by a Filipina on death row for a judicial review of her case, bringing her closer to being executed along with several other foreign drug convicts.

But in a bid to save the life of Mary Jane Veloso, Vice President Jejomar Binay renewed his appeal to Indonesian President Joko Widodo for the commutation of the death sentence of Veloso who was caught carrying a suitcase containing illegal drugs in Indonesia.

Binay and the Department of Foreign affairs vowed to exert all efforts to save the life of Veloso whom they believe was innocent of the crime and was a mere victim of a drug smuggling syndicate.

“I am once again appealing to President Widodo’s good heart for the commutation of the death sen-tence of our kababayan, Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso, who is scheduled be

executed in Yogyakarta,” Binay said in a statement.

Veloso’s request for clemency was among the 16 rejected by In-donesia’s newly elected leader, President Widodo, on January 9.

“I ask this, with the deepest bond of brotherhood and friendship of our peoples, a bond that I am con-fident will only grow stronger in the years to come,” Binay said.

“We are saddened that the Indo-nesian Supreme Court has chosen not to grant Mary Jane’s lawyers’ request for a judicial review of her case. Nonetheless, we reiterate the Philippines’ full awareness and re-spect for Indonesia’s laws and legal system,” the Vice President said.

In their appeal for judicial review, Veloso’s lawyers argued that the Fili-pina was not provided with a capable translator during her trial.

“It should have been court ap-pointed translator. Maybe he is not qualified during that time. That might have had an impact on the

proceedings that happened before in relation to the accuracy of the translation,” Jose said.

Binay stressed that Veloso, a widowed mother of two, was not part of any organized drug syndi-cate, saying she, too, was a victim.

“She was unwittingly taken ad-vantage of by a person whom she gave her complete trust and confi-dence when the latter asked her to hand carry a piece of luggage con-taining illegal drugs,” Binay said.

The Vice President previously wrote Widodo earlier this month to “convey to Widodo the Filipi-nos’ hope and prayer that the Su-preme Court of Indonesia will look kindly and with compassion on the circumstances surrounding the case of Veloso.”

The United Nations human rights office has previously called on Indonesia to refrain from ex-ecuting convicted drug smugglers, saying the death penalty won’t stop the trafficking of illegal drugs.

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THE public outrage over the Aquino admin-istration’s mishandling of the Mamasapano operation will continue in light of President Be-nigno Aquino III’s sup-posed last speech on the debacle, opposition law-makers said Friday.

1-BAP party-list Rep. Silvestre Bello III, a member of the House minority bloc, said for as long as there was an absence of justice for the victims, families and widows of the 44 police commandos who died on Jan. 25, intense anger and frustration against the government will continue.

“There must be justice for the death of our fallen heroes,” said Bello, a former peace negotiator and former justice secretary.

He made his statement even as Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano on Friday said the acro-nym MILF meant “Mga Iilan na Lolokohin lang and mga Filipino.”

He said he coined the term based on the MILF’s 35-page report on the encounter between the police commandos and Muslim rebels af-ter the policemen brought down a terrorist in the rebel territory.

“Can we trust the MILF as peace partners?” Cayetano said.

He warned that if the govern-ment gave the Bangsamoro Basic Law to the MILF, the group will separate Mindanao and Sulu from the country.

The head of the National Com-mission for Muslim Filipinos and the government peace panel, meanwhile, denied the allegations that the government is provid-ing the MILF funds through the Bangsamoro Transition Commis-sion or BTC.

“We don’t know where the critics are getting all the information that they have been announcing to the media,” NCMF chairwoman Bai Yasmin Busran-Lao said.

Government peace panel mem-ber Senen Bacani said the P100-million operational expenses of the BTC was subject to regular ac-counting and auditing.

The anti-crime watchdog Volun-teers Against Crime and Corruption on Friday slammed what it called the “string of lies, lies and lies” from President Aquino who, it said, was trying to evade the real issues in the Mamasapano incident.

Group chairman Dante Ji-menez said they will form a team of legal luminaries to file crimi-nal charges against Aquino, SAF Director Getulo Napeñas and former PNP Chief Alan Purisima over the incident.

“We will file the charges against the two PNP officers anytime soon,” Jimenez said.

“For the President, he will be made to answer for the Mamasapa-no debacle next year when he turns over the command of the Armed Forces to his successor.” Maricel V. Cruz, Macon Ramos-Araneta, Sandy Araneta and Francisco Tuyay

Aquino: MakeHoly Weektravels safe

Pay increases for special ed teachers approved

‘Give justice, not speech’

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Fighting fire. Firemen attempt to extinguish a burning target during the recent Second Fire Olypmics in Cebu City. Regular and volunteer firemen from 23 barangays in the city showcased their skills during the competition. RAlph piezAS

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III di-rected concerned government agencies on Friday has to assure the safety and convenience of the public going to the provinces during the Holy Week cel-ebration even as the national disaster agency and the Philippine National Po-lice went on alert.

“The reminders and instruction of the President to the government agencies are to assure the safety and convenience of the people who will be going to the provinces during the Holy Week,” said Presidential Communications Operations Office Sec-retary Herminio Coloma Jr.

For the Toll Regulatory Board, the President directed them to assure smooth and orderly payment of toll fee in major expressways.

The President said the Department of Transportation and Communica-tions and its attached agencies should make sure that there are enough num-bers of public vehicles and no over-loading particularly the ships.

The Department of Public Works and Highways has also been directed to as-sure that all roads are clear and safe for all public vehicles.

THE Makati City Council ap-proved on Friday an increase in the monthly allowances of special education teachers and teaching and non-teaching per-sonnel of the Depatment of Ed-ucation-Makati effective January 2015 and of Makati Science High School scholars effective April 2015.

Councilor Marie Alethea Casal-Uy said Vice Mayor Romulo Peña, who is claim-ing to be the duly installed mayor of Makati, was absent

from the session.She said some 28 SPED teach-

ers, 2,846 teachers and 67 non-teaching personnel of DepEd Makati, and over 800 students of the MSHS will soon enjoy in-creased financial benefits from the city government.

Under City Ordinance No. 2015-015, the incentive allow-ance of SPED teachers in Maka-ti will be increased from P1,500 to P4,000 per month while the allowance of teaching and non-teaching staff will be increased

from P1,000 to P1,500 under City Ordinance No. 2015-017.

Over 800 city scholars at the Makati Science High School in the coming school year will also be receiving P1,500 monthly stipend, up from the current P1,000-stipend, under City Ordi-nance No. 2015-016.

The said ordinances were au-thored by Uy and Councilors Leo Magpantay, Virgilio Hilar-io, Arnold Magpantay, Nelson Pasia, Nemesio Yabut, Jr., Ferdi-nand Eusebio and Vincent Sese.

Uy said the City Council has prioritized the approval of the ordinances in recognition of the invaluable services being rendered by the educators to the youth of Makati. The in-crease in stipend of MSHS stu-dents is also intended to help their parents cope with infla-tion, she said.

Aside from the two ordinanc-es, Uy also said Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay also signed two or-dinances approved by the council in the said session.

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Beijing escalates wordwar on disputed waters

Heightenstandards,Sereno tellslaw schools

Korean envoy feted at farewell call

By Rey E. Requejo

CHIEF Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno exhorted the ad-ministrators of the coun-try’s law schools to adopt higher standards in pro-ducing high-caliber gradu-ates following a declining passing rates of the Bar in recent years.

Sereno made the ap-peal after the passing rate in the 2014 Bar exams dropped to 18.82 percent from 22.18 percent in the previous year.

The country’s first lady chief magistrate ex-pressed belief that it is high time for law school deans to revisit their re-spective programs.

“I think what should be the concern of everybody, especially the law schools, is whether quality of the in-struction is improving at all levels,” Sereno said, when interviewed by reporters during a business forum in Makati City last Thursday following the release of the Bar exams results.

The lowest passing rate in recent years was in the 2012 Bar exams where only 949 of 5,343 law graduates passed the exams or a passing rate of just 17.76 percent.

According to her, there is a need for the deans “to un-dertake an extensive review on how their courses are being taught and how they recruit the faculty and even the students who are apply-ing to take up law.”

“We cannot also al-low (Bar) applicants who are unable to answer very basic questions, and who aren’t able to articulate in an appropriate fashion,” she stressed.

The Chief Justice warned that law graduates who lack practice before the courts and competence would only cause “injustice to their clients.”

“We must assure their cli-ents a credible level of com-petence,” Sereno said.

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III conferred the Order of Sikatuna to Am-bassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Korea to the Philippines Lee Hyuk dur-ing the latter’s farewell call, held at the Music Room of Malacañang Palace.

Lee received the prestigious Order of Sikatuna with the rank of Datu (Grand Cross, Gold Distinction) on Thurs-day afternoon for his impor-tant contributions in further strengthening and deepening bilateral relations between Korea and the Philippines.

The Order of Sikatuna,

established in 1953, is con-ferred by the President on individuals who have ren-dered exceptional and meri-torious services to the Phil-ippines and to diplomats, officials and nationals of foreign states who have ren-dered conspicuous services in fostering, developing, and strengthening relations be-tween their country and the Philippines.

The Korean envoy was honored for his outstand-ing and dedicated service in the field of international relations and for having been an exceptionally wor-thy and competent rep-

resentative of his govern-ment to the Philippines.

The Korean diplomat was also recognized for his valuable efforts in facilitat-ing the various cooperation agreements in the fields of defense between the De-partment of National De-fense and the Korean Min-istry of National Defense; and sports between the Philippine Sports Com-mission and the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; as well as various exchanges of notes for the grant of aid and loan projects in the Philip-pines. Sandy Araneta

Chinese foreign min-istry spokeswoman Hua Chunying’s denuncia-tion came one day after the Philippine foreign secretary accused Bei-jing of “accelerating its expansionist agenda” and maintained that Ma-nila would resume its own construction in the South China Sea.

“The Philippines criti-cized China’s normal construction on our own islands, but in the mean-time it claims to resume its construction, such as airstrips on Chinese is-lands it has illegally occu-pied,” Hua said at a regu-lar briefing.

“This does not only vio-late China’s territorial sov-

BEIJING—Beijing escalated its war of words with the Philippines over the South China Sea on Friday, decrying Manila as “hypocritical” for criticising its land reclamation works in the area.

ereignty but also reveals (the Philippines’) hypocrit-ical nature,” she added.

Beijing insists it has sov-ereign rights to nearly all of the resource-rich sea, even areas approaching the coasts of the Philip-pines and other Southeast Asian nations, based on a 1940s Chinese map with segmented dashes outlin-ing its territory.

But the dashes, now nine in number, are in some places more than 1,000 ki-lometers (600 miles) from the nearest major Chinese landmass and well within the exclusive economic

zones of its neighbors.The dispute -- with Viet-

nam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also claiming parts of the sea -- has for decades been a source of deep re-gional tension and occa-sional military conflict.

Tensions have escalat-ed sharply in recent years as China has moved to increase its presence and assert its authority in the waters.

On Thursday, Philip-pine Foreign Affairs Sec-retary Albert del Rosario said China was trying to undermine a United Na-tions tribunal that is due

to rule early next year on a challenge by Manila to Beijing’s claims.

“China is accelerating its expansionist agenda and changing the status quo to actualise its nine-dash line claim and to control nearly the entire South China Sea before... the handing down of a de-cision of the arbitral tribu-nal on the Philippine sub-mission,” del Rosario said.

China maintains that it does not accept the UN’s arbitration of the dispute, which it insists should be handled directly between Beijing and Manila. AFP

Still friends. Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua greets President Aquino upon his arrival at the opening of the 30th Biennial Convention of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City. MALACAÑANG PHOTO BUREAU

Kamsahamnida. President Aquino confers the Order of Sikatuna on outgoing Korean Ambassador Lee Hyuk during his farewell call at Malacañang on Thursday. Also at the call were Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and Korean diplomats Lee Jaw-wan, Kwon Won-jik and Yang Dong-han. MALACAÑANG PHOTO BUREAU

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Share profits, PNoy tells firms

In his speech at the open-ing ceremony of the 30th Biennial Convention of the Federation of the Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Com-merce and Industry Inc. (FFCCCII) delivered at SM Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay City, Aquino said the FFCC-CII members had always reached out to communities through scholarship funds

or medical missions. “Today, however, I am in-

viting you to do even more to help us empower the Fili-pino people,” Aquino said.

Aquino recalled that when he was in the Legisla-ture, he proposed a measure that called on businesses to share part of their profits with their employees.

“Our business environ-

By Sandy Araneta

President Benigno Aquino iii yesterday urged private companies to share part of their profits to their employees to help them during hard times.

Immigration foils traffic try

AMId clamor for the passage of a divorce law, the presi-dent of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philip-pines said the teachings of the Church on marriage cannot be changed to suit the wishes of the modern world.

In a statement, CBCP presi-dent and Lingayen-dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said some people who support the passage of a divorce law do so because they want “another go at marriage,” likening the situation to a person who gets a replacement car if the first one proves to be unsatisfactory.

“It is plainly dehumaniz-ing to both spouses to allow for a test-run, through a first marriage, and then grant the possibility of a replacement of spouses should the test fail,” Villegas said.

“divorce is a deterrent to working on differences. Mar-riage is and ought to be a work in progress.”

“When the expedient of divorce is readily available, a couple will be less likely to work on differences, dialogue and reasonably work out solutions because there is a quick fix to ‘incompatibilities,’” he added.

Villegas said setting grounds for divorce is a slippery slope as “it assumes that one is in a posi-tion to grade degrees of misery or difficulty, and to say of some that they are worthy of the ‘relief’ of divorce while others are not.”

“A divorce law will either grant divorce on any ground —in which case marriage becomes a mockery—or on some grounds. But if it is granted on some grounds, ir-reconcilable differences, for example, who is to say that a person is more greatly chal-lenged by irreconcilable dif-ferences than by the snoring of a spouse at night?” he said.

Villegas said the fact that the Philippines is the only country in the world that has yet to pass a divorce law is not something that Filipinos should apologize for.

By Vito Barcelo

IMMIgrATIOn authorities foiled a human smuggling syndi-cate’s attempt to traffic 16 Filipino travelers to Malaysia as they were about to leave the ninoy Aquino International Airport.

The passengers, whose names have been withheld for their safe-ty, presented themselves as a tour group. They were supposed to de-part for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last week via Air Asia Flight Z2940.

Immigration Officers gliziel Joy diaz and Jeathone Largo noticed inconsistencies in the passengers’ statements upon interview. They were then referred to Travel Con-trol and Enforcement Unit (TCEU) Officer Joyce Arianne Laurel for further inspection.

A check with the airline revealed that the passengers only booked their tickets the day before. They could not present accommoda-tion arrangements in Malaysia or explain their travel itinerary. They also did not have a return ticket

during the interview, the pas-sengers admitted that they did not know each other and that each of them paid P20,000 each to a certain “Ms. Weng” and “Ms. riza” who in-troduced themselves as legitimate manpower agents helping them find work abroad. The women’s names were unknown to the 16.

One of the victims, a 29-year-old former security guard, claimed that he was promised work in Malaysia. He became suspicious of the re-cruiters because he knew the pro-cess of acquiring legitimate work documents. When he asked for a copy of his POEA clearance and his Pre-departure Orientation Semi-nar Certificate, “Ms. riza” assured him that these would be provided before departure.

He only learned that he would depart as a tourist on the day of the flight.

Two female victims were for-mer repatriated OFWs from Libya. They admitted planning to go back there via Malaysia. They also pad P20,000 each.

Because of the incident, BI Commissioner Siegfred Mison re-minded aspiring OFWs not to be “satisfied with flowery words from illegal recruiters. They must be vigilant at all times, and exert all ef-forts in ensuring that the agencies they deal with are legitimate man-power agencies.”

“They will most likely be vic-tims of human trafficking as soon as they set foot abroad, where they will have no one to turn to. We im-plement the law to protect the in-terest of our kababayans and their families,” Mison added.

ment had reached a point where management and la-bor had become too adver-sarial. Where labor wanted more benefits, management wanted to minimize costs, leading to a seemingly end-less tug-of-war, often at the expense of potentially lucrative opportunities for all. My intent was to make the antagonistic ‘you’ versus ‘I’ into a ‘we,’ and the meth-odology was a system that rewards productivity, that allows all stakeholders to benefit from increased prof-its,” said Aquino.

The President said he does not expect the bill to be passed anytime soon, but

perhaps “companies can take the initiative: make the effort to give your employ-ees a little more, and it will serve to drive them to be even more productive, while at the same time spurring a virtuous cycle of trust, confi-dence, and sustained growth in terms of our economy.”

Aquino also noted that the the Chinese are known to place great value in fam-ily ties, very much like the typical Filipino. “In fact, the Chinese usually expand the idea of family to cover mul-tiple generations.”

The President also urged the private sector to con-tinue working together, the

way the private companies and government did in the aftermath of Yolanda, and in solving the problem of the port congestion.

“Moving forward, I hope you will continue to partner with all our fellow country-men and help steer our ship of state towards its rightful place in the sun,” he said.

Aquino said that since he assumed office in 2010, the federation has been one of those he has met with regularly.

Over the past few years, however, “they have spoken less about what they intend to do, and more about what has been done.”

Not all is lost. A young Yolanda survivor, Charisse, helps her grandmother earn a living by drying fish along the shores of Carigara, Leyte. The girl lost her parents during the typhoon. MEL CASPE

Women’s March for Peace. Peace negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer waks alongside PNP and civil society representatives around the Quezon City Circle. MANNY PALMERO

Bishops: Divorce a ‘quick fix’

graduates of Talipan national High School (formerly TBHS) in Pagbilao, Quezon will have a grand alumni homecoming in April 11 at the Pagbilao Patio.

details of the event may be obtained from Melinda Alejan-dro Castilla (0912-3224943), rommel roperez (0928-7062414) and girlie Tinana guerra (0921-2790988)

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

s at u r d ay : m a r c h 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

news A7

SC suspends Olongapo judge for bribery raps

By Rey E. Requejo

The Supreme Court has ordered the preventive suspension of a judge in Olongapo City following allegations of attempted bribery, inefficiency and conflict of interest.

USAID builds more classrooms in Palo

The High Court’s Third Divi-sion suspended Judge Norman V. Pamintuan of Olongapo City Regional Trial Court, Branch 73.

The SC also directed Pa-mintuan to answer the com-plaints filed against him and ex-plain why no disciplinary action should be taken against him for acts which result in conflict of interest on his part.

Aming these acts are follow-ing up on a case with the mu-nicipal trial court involving his Korean friend, soliciting con-tributions for a concert and a shootfest, and holding his wife’s birthday celebration at a resort owned by someone with a pend-ing trafficking case at the RTC.

The judge was also asked to ex-plain his failure to resolve 16 cases within the mandated period de-spite his minimal caseload.

The preventive suspension against Pamintuan arose from the complaints of the other first- and second-level court judges of Olongapo City raised dur-ing the judicial audit conducted in January by the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA).

The tribunal said the allegations against Pamintuan will be treated as an administrative complaint.

The Court said the suspen-sion is effectively immediately and designated Judge Jose L. Bautista, Jr. as acting presid-ing judge.

Thank you! School children in Leyte wave American flaglets as a gesture of gratitude to the USAID for its school rebuilding project. RONALD REYES

PALO, Leyte—The United States Agency for Inter-national Development (USAID) on Wednesday turned over two school buildings with 14 class-rooms in Palo, Leyte -- the third classroom building project completed by the said agency this year.

Palo was one of the mu-nicipalities ravaged by ty-

phoon Yolanda in Novem-ber 2013.

Andrew Holland, USAID supervisory contracting/agreement officer who led the turn-over ceremony of two buildings with 14 classrooms in Palo I Central School, said: “The United States govern-ment and other countries in the world have great deter-mination to rebuild your lives

after Yolanda.”Holland added that aside

from schools, the U.S. gov-ernment is also keen on its livelihood and health care assistance to the Yolanda af-fected communities.

Melfe Grance Sanchez, school principal of Palo I Central School, said: “This project, which started last year, is a testimony to our

conviction that has turned into reality” as she thanked the USAID and Education officials.

Students of Palo I Cen-tral School used to occupy temporary learning spaces without water and electri-cal facilities. Sixth grader Shan Abril, 11, said he was happy about the changes in his school.

“We are now comfortable inside the classroom. It feels good that our school is beau-tiful again,” added Queency Tobilla, another pupil.

According to Engr. Carlos Tan, USAID Rebuild Depu-ty Chief of Party for Infra-structure, USAID-Rebuild is targeting the completion of over 250 classrooms by January 2016. This is under

their medium-term disaster rehabilitation program in Leyte municipalities.

USAID is working with local governments in build-ing the classrooms.

“These classrooms will be earthquake and ty-phoon-resilient, taking the lesson after the powerful storm Yolanda,” he said. Ronald Reyes

LEGAZPI CITY—The Phil-ippine Travel and Operator’s Association (Philtoa) again named Albay province its top summer destinations.

Philtoa President Cesar Cruz said that local politi-cal leadership and commit-ment to a sustainable tour-ism program formed part of their criteria aside from a destination’s “sights and activities”.

In 2014, the province re-corded a 7.1-percent share in foreign tourist arrivals. The previous year, it was declared the fastest-growing tourism area in the country with a 66% growth rate to 339,000 tourists, higher than the na-tional figure’s.

Albay has been dubbed as a “tourism powerhouse” by the Tourism Department, which said it “will likely lead in the next major wave of the country’s tourist inflow.” The DOT has often showcased Albay in many international tourism expositions.

Travel group: Albay is top destination for summer

Sarag mi, we can. A girl views paintings depicting women, all done by women. This art exhibit in Lingayen, Pangasinan will be open until April 16. JOHANNE MARGARETTE R. MACOB.

were left defenseless while withdrawing from the scene.

said no reinforcement or artillery support came for his beleaguered police com-mandos. The police official’s statement tended to support both the Senate and police Board of Inquiry findings on the Mamasapano inci-dent that preserving the ceasefire agreement with the MILF was more paramount for the President than pro-viding extra firepower to save the besieged PNP-SAF commandos. Earlier in his testimony before the Senate committee on public order, Napenas was careful not to implicate the President.

But he seemed to change his mind because he was be-ing made the fall guy who allegedly gave the President

wrong information about the situation on the ground.

The Senate and the BOI reports were contradicted by the Moro Islamic Libera-tion Front’s separate report submitted to Malaysia, the third-party broker in the peace talks between the MILF and the Philippine government.

The 20 senators who signed the 120-page Senate report are standing by their findings and impugned the MILF report, particularly the portion on as to who fired first while the com-mandos were retreating. The MILF also claimed they were unaware of the presence of

opinionA8

[ EDI TORI A L ]

Good, Grand, Great

RELIEvEd PNP-SAF Gen-eral Getulio Napenas won’t be a fall guy for the Fallen 44 commandos. In a recent Tv interview, Napenas said the secret police operation was executed through suspend-ed PNP dG Alan Purisima which, from all indications,

clearly came from the top.By that, he meant Puri-

sima’s role had the green light from President Aqui-no who’s known to protect friends loyal to him. Nap-enas is no longer as hesitant to point to the President as ultimately responsible for the bungled Mamasapano mission. In a voice quiver-ing with emotion, Napenas recalled to ANC’s Karen da-vila how his men after tak-ing down terrorist Marwan

Fall guy For Fallen 44

ThIS country continues to have a high regard for lawyers, as shown by the attention to Thursday’s release of the list of those who passed the 2014 bar examinations.

Out of the 6,334 takers, 1,126 passed what is considered the toughest professional test here, translating into a passing rate of 18 percent.

Perhaps what occasions the high regard is the rigorous preparation for the exam. It may be the difficult four or five years of studies – memorization of statutes and details of jurisprudence, spanning several decades, on every legal issue imaginable, and the recitation of these before an unforgiving professor.

The eight subjects covered by the Bar exam include Political and Public International Law, Labor and Social Legislation, Civil law, Taxation, Mercantile Law, Criminal Law, Remedial Law, and Legal and Judicial Ethics.

The near-reverence may be because it is lawyers who run governments, craft and interpret its laws. They are influential and powerful, able to make history or rewrite it.

Most likely, the respect comes from the notion that lawyers are out to defend the defenseless, correct injustice and generally make the world – the country, at least – a better place.

We remain optimistic despite our experience with some lawyers deliberately using their expertise to advance their own or agenda, or twist the law for their purposes.

They are the still the exceptions rather than the rule – and this is why we are as interested to read about the Bar passers as though we were their own parents or friends. That a fresh, untarnished batch of lawyers will join the so-called real world gives us a sense of hope that there will be more to advance justice than those to pervert it.

The bar is not only a test of intellect but also of determination and willpower. The stories of some of the passers have amazed and inspired us. Remember there are 1,126 success stories to discover.

The US Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell holmes is quoted prominently on a hall of the UP College of Law. A law school’s business, Wendell said, is to teach law in the grand manner, and to make great lawyers.

But grand teaching and great lawyering can only be seen if the products, not just of UP but all those who passed that tough test, quite simply and categorically, do good things, and well.

That is the ultimate exam, not of legal mastery, but plain character and humanity.

BaCK CHanneL

aLeJandro deL roSarIo

napenas is no longer as hesitant to

point to the President as ultimately

responsible for the bungled

Mamasapano mission.

A9lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

adelle chuaE D I T O R

S aT u R d aY : M a R c h 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

OPINION

Graduates, congratulations! You successfully weathered the re-

quired courses to go up that stage in a most precious toga, shake hands and briefly exchange pleasantries with school and other important of-ficials, receive your (mock) diplo-ma, and have your pictures taken in full regalia. How cool is that?

Keep your head high. You earned it. You are through with years of

countless sleepless nights of coffee and reviewers for exams, anxiety of waiting for grades, the beating of deadlines for the seemingly unend-ing required researches and papers, and the endless chats with class-mates figuring out how best things could be done, simultaneously with the latest campus “chismis”, and who was dating whom.

You worked hard. take pride in this. and proud is how your family, especially, your parents feel for your achievement.

they should be equally congratu-lated for supporting you all the way. For putting up with the stress levels, for finding ways to make sure that your tuition fees get paid. In short, for giving you the best possible edu-cation no matter what. so, hats-off to you, parents!

therefore, bear with your parents and family as they happily flood your timeline and FaceBook page with your graduation pictures and sentimental posts. Let the world know that you are now to embark on a new phase of your life.

dear graduates, this is going to be an exciting adventure. Now, you will primarily call the shots. Your deci-sion-making capacities will be tested. There will be no grades but there will be consequences. remember that your decisions will impact not only on yourself but on others as well.

do not forget that you are a part of this community, this country, no matter how frustrating things can be at times. Your country also in-vested in you no matter if you went to the most exclusive of schools. You used your country’s resources, your country trained your teachers so that they, in turn, could mentor you.

While things can be difficult here, please seriously consider staying and helping out, a least for a few years. Far too many of our bright and skilled citizens have left in search of bet-ter opportunities in other lands. We need the best, the brightest, and well-intentioned to help our dear country get out of this rut.

Of graduates and leadership

Marwan and homegrown terrorist Basit usman in their area, adding the encounter happened because the authorities did not coordinate the operation with the MILF. But doing so would have tipped off Marwan and usman who had in-formers in all the villagers in the vicinity.

How can they not know that these high-profile fugitives were in their locality?” this was how in-credible the senators and the PNP

saw the MILF version of the inci-dent.

senator Grace Poe who chaired the senate committee inquiry maintains the killing of the police commandos was a massacre. she said that it may have begun as a gun battle but turned into a carnage when MILF and BIFF guerillas fin-ished off the policemen while they were already defenseless. autopsy performed on the victims showed they were shot in the face at close

range; some of them were even mutilated.

the outrage over Mamasa-pano will continue to simmer even if Congress passes a revised Bangsamoro Basic Law when it re-sumes session. the MILF has made clear it will not accept anything less than what government peace panelists Miriam Coronel Ferrer and teresita deles already gave away in the framework agreement.

Continued on A11 Continued on A11

POWER POINT

ELIZABETHANGSIOCO

ManilaStandardTODAY

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William Patarasa, 16 years old, one of the leaders of the petitioners, in effect corroborated all the points raised by Jibin Arula. But he denied knowledge of any massacre.”

Comparing the two versions of the story, one could say that even if Sena-tor Aquino was motivated by his habit of making a political grandstanding, he nonetheless tried to verify the state-ment made by Arula by interviewing the trainees, and found out that indeed they were sent home to Jolo. In the case of the two “seekers of the truth”, they came out with their own conclu-sions that several Muslim trainees were gunned down, tied their dead bodies to a treed, burned, and given the burial by dumping their charred remains at Manila Bay wrapped in ponchos and tied to big stones to make sure they will sink and forever forgotten by history.

They committed the worst act of disinformation be-cause they came out with a story that was meant to shame, embarrass, humiliate and put the republic in bad light. They violated the sacred rule of journalism by maliciously and intentionally presenting to our people contemptible canard that our soldiers could commit such a heinous crime of killing supposedly one of their own. To this day, the same investigative journalists had not come out with a single article telling our people how our badly injured Special Action Forces were finished off by the MILF rebels by shooting them on the head with a handgun. As if to be proud of their dastardly crime, they had their act of brutal-ity videoed and posted on the Internet for all of us to see.

All that is heard from them is that we approve the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) to give peace a chance.

To make their canard sound savvy, the authors claim that it was from a Presidential helicopter that General Espino alighted and imme-diately the soldiers ordered to clear and clean the place of the debris. They emphasized the word “Presi-dential” helicopter to insinuate that President Marcos had knowledge that a massacre would take place, and the visit by General Romeo Espino was to make sure that the “order” was carried out to the letter.

But in Ninoy’s own account, the alleged visit made by General Es-

pino took place months before the alleged massacre, to quote him again:

Shortly before Jabidahs landed on Corregidor (in January 3), a top level team of defense officials led by then Defense Undersecretary Manuel Syquio and Brig. Gen. Romeo Espino, commander of the Philippine Army, inspected the campsite. The old Corregidor hos-pital was cordoned off and declared a restricted area.”

Ninoy never mentioned that the two defense officials came on board a Presidential helicopter or that their visit took place immediately after the alleged massacre to insinuate that Marcos have an advance knowledge of what happened, and that the surprise visit was to make sure the ghastly order was carried out.

rpkapunan@gmail.com

OPINIONS AT U R D AY : M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

A10

Part I

WhEN Newsbreak-came out with an ar-ticle dated March 18, 2013 to mark the 45th commemoration of

the so–called “Jabida Massacre,” authors Marites Dan-guilan Vitug and Glenda M. Gloria claimed that at least 23 Muslim trainees were summarily gunned down. No-body asked where they got their story and what made them conclude that a massacre took place in Corregi-dor Island. To them, destroying the image and memory of Marcos and the integrity of the Republic does not matter. All that is important is they succeed in ingrati-ating themselves to their foreign patrons.

Maybe we can speculate, but when writing crosses the line of objectivity, speculation is automatically re-duced to propaganda of the worst kind because the au-thors allowed themselves to be made accomplice to the shaming the Republic. To quote their canard: “Arula’s memory of this day remains vivid: We went to the air-port on a weapons carrier truck, accompanied by 13 (non-Muslim) trainees with their M-16 and carbines. When we reached the airport, our escorts alighted ahead of us. Then Lt. Eduardo Nepomuceno ordered us to get down from the truck and line up […]. As we put down our bags, I heard series of shots. Like domi-noes, my colleagues fell. I got scared. I ran and was shot at, in my left thigh. I don’t know that I was run-ning towards a mountain…By 8 am, I was rescued by two fishermen on Caballo Island, near Cavite.”

A presidential helicopter swooped down on Corregi-dor shortly after the killings. Officers and men belong-ing to the Army Special Forces leaped out of the aircraft and engaged in a clandestine cover-up mission to erase traces of the massacre.”

When they landed, the teams of soldiers found burned bodies tied to trees, near the airstrip, on the is-land’s bottom side. The order from Army chief Gen. Romeo Espino was to clean up the place and clear it of all debris. From afternoon till sunset, they collected charred flesh and bones and wrapped them in dark col-ored ponchos. They could not keep track of how many bodies were there. They also picked up bullet shells lying on the airstrip. The trainees had been shot before they were tied and burned.”

At the crack of down the next day, they loaded the pon-chos in the helicopter and flew over Manila Bay. They tied heavy stones to the ponchos before dumping them all into the sea. The remains sank, weighed down by the stones. The soldiers made sure nothing floated to the surface.”

One need not contradict that fantasy. All that a reader should do is read the privilege speech made by Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. delivered on March 28, 1968 in the Senate hall barely a week after the incident. Compare Ninoy’s narrative of the events and their version. To quote him: “Jibin Arula, in his sworn statement, said that upon reaching the airstrip they were told to get off their weapons carrier. They were told to form a line.

With all the stored-up suspicion in mind, Jibin Arula must have thought that his time to be killed had come.

We can only conjecture at this point that happened.”Arula must have made a dash for his life, thinking

that they had been brought to the airstrip to be ‘slaugh-tered.’

“Told to halt by his escorts, he kept running.his escorts shot him in the leg to force him to stop.he kept going – and the rest is history.What happened to his eleven companions?Were they really ‘massacred’?“Some say that when the firing started with Jibin Arula,

his companions ducked. So that Arula was correct when he said that he saw his companions fall to the ground.

But were they shot? Or did they duck because of the firing?

The army says that the eleven are alive. As soon as the army authorities produced the other eleven re-cruits, the sorry mess of Corregidor should find its end.

***“Meanwhile, in Jolo yesterday, I met the first batch

of 24 recruits aboard RP-68. This group was earlier re-ported missing or even worse, believed “massacred”.

Shaming the republic a year of mercy

ThE 15th-century painting of the Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci is an iconic depiction of the dismay expressed by the twelve apostles when Jesus Christ re-vealed that one of them would betray him. The paint-ing shows the varying reactions of the apostles to the dire news of betrayal. While all the apostles expressed shock, Judas, who would betray the Savior, is seen lean-ing forward with anger all over his face while clutch-ing the purse which contains the thirty pieces of silver. Traditionally, Christians believe that the Last Supper or the Lord’s Supper occurred on holy Thursday. It was on this day that Jesus Christ instituted the sacrament of the holy Eucharist when he transformed the bread and wine into to his body and blood. For us Catholics he is really, truly, and substantially present in the holy Eucharist which is not merely a sign as other Christians believe but the real presence of God.

The Gospel of John continues that Jesus took this occasion to wash the feet of his disciples. After he fin-ished washing their feet, he resumed his place, and said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. The apostles, especially Peter, could not fathom the significance of this gesture. They believed that Christ, the messiah, would present himself as their savior from the Roman oppressors and restore the glory days of King David. Instead here he is preaching not as an early king or a conqueror but as a servant who humbly and willingly serves his disciples.

The Lord’s Supper teaches us of God’s abiding pres-ence and mercy. Through the holy Eucharist, Christ’s real presence to commemorate and renew for all time the sacrifice of the cross. Indeed, he is a faithful God who remains with his people throughout human his-tory. he humbled himself even to the point of suffering a most scandalous kind of death – death on the cross – in order to save us from the slavery of sin and free us from eternal death. In washing the feet of his disciples, Christ gives us an example on how to live. he teaches us the virtue of humility and service. And by this we are exhorted to live not for ourselves alone but to be of service to others. To be humble - not proud and ar-rogant, even when one finds himself in a position of power. This is a very good guidance to the leaders of our society; our political leaders, business leaders and even the heads of every household. To be like Christ is

to serve the weak and the poor amongst us selflessly. What he asks of us is genuine service and self-effacing and unconditional love especially to those who are ig-norant, poor, disabled, oppressed, and even those who oppose or do not agree with us.

On this occasion, Jesus Christ shows his disciples the meaning of infinite mercy and love. he died for us all sinners even for Judas; yes, even Judas who would betray him. It is said that Judas would be forgiven had he asked for forgiveness and not succumbed to despair to hang himself. Perhaps, we can take into ac-count these reflections when dealing with people and happenings around us especially in the aftermath of the Mamasapano tragedy and the ensuing political tur-moil. It behooves us to treat this particular incident and other similar occurrences in the light of the Gospel of John which underscores God’s mercy and love for all mankind, notwithstanding our unworthiness.

Beginning December 8 2015, and ending on No-vember 20 2016, Pope Francis has declared an Extraor-dinary Jubilee Year for the Church, calling it a “holy Year of Mercy” in order to give stress on the Church’s mission of being a witness of mercy. In his address an-nouncing the holy Year of Mercy” the holy Pontiff said that this journey starts with a spiritual conversion. It is a year to “rediscover and make fruitful the mercy of God, with which we are all called to give consolation to every man and every woman of our time.” At the start of this holy Year, the holy Father stated: “This is the time of mercy. It is important that the lay faithful live it and bring it into different social environments. Go forth!” This proclamation is timely. Seeing what is hap-pening in Syria, Libya, Iraq, the Crimea and other parts of the world including here in our country, particularly on peace in Mindanao, where prejudice competes in our hearts with Christ’s love, mercy and compassion. The Jubilee year is an invitation to draw our undivided attention to the merciful God who invites all men and women to genuine repentance for it is only the One True God that can heal the deep wounds that today in-flict untold suffering to humanity.

As holy Week gets under way tomorrow, I ask for myself and for all of my readers the special grace of solitude and prayer. So in the silence of our hearts, we will recognize the loving mercy of God -- and turn that around to mercy for others.

Facebook page: Dean Tony La Vina Twitter: tonylav

BACK­BENCHER

ROD P.KAPUNAN

EAGLE EYES

DEAN TONYLA VIÑA

When writing crosses the line of objectivity,

speculation is automatically reduced to propaganda of the

worst kind.

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

The MILF’s eMpTy ThreaT; p’Noy Is NoT pNp CIC

Leaders of the pro-Malaysia Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and misguided supporters of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) insist that the only alternative to the BBL is an all-out war in Mindanao.  That threat is devoid of legal and factual bases.

The organic act of the autono-mous region in Muslim Mindanao (arMM) may have been subjected to numerous amendments but it re-mains a valid law because Congress has not repealed it.  With the demise of the BBL a virtual certainty owing to the ever-increasing public oppo-sition to it, Congress should focus its attention instead to the arMM organic act and how it may be im-proved without violating the Consti-tution.  This is the only win-win op-tion outside of war.

If the leaders of the MILF and the proponents of the BBL expect the armed Forces of the Philippines (aFP) to get intimidated by the threat of war, they should take another look at their strategy.  since the Filipino soldier is the first to lay down his life in the defense of the nation, he is the last person to want a war.  Nonethe-less, when war breaks out, he will not renege on his sworn duty to defend the country.  The historical record shows that the insurgency in Mind-anao has been around since the early 1970s, and that the aFP has continu-ously and repeatedly disrupted past secessionist overtures of the MILF and its forebear, the Moro National Liberation Front led by Nur Misuari.  even the abu sayaff, the notorious kidnap-for-ransom bandit organiza-tion, fears the aFP.  Moreover, the aFP intelligence center knows where

the troublemakers are.Look what happened to the

Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fight-ers (BIFF) group which helped the MILF butcher the 44 special action Force policemen in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last January.  after aFP Chief of staff General Gregorio Pio Catapang, Jr. declared an all-out offensive against the BIFF, and after aFP troops stormed known BIFF hideouts, the so-called “freedom fighters” went scampering in differ-ent directions.  

 Perhaps its fear of the aFP is the unexplained reason why the MILF did not include a representative from the aFP in the peace panel which drafted the ill-fated BBL.

another important consideration is that the United states has branded the terrorist organizations al-Qaeda and Islamic state of Iraq and syria enemies of america.  since these ter-rorist organizations conduct covert operations in the jungles of Muslim Mindanao, it is certain that ameri-can military leaders will take steps to annihilate these organizations, even if it means by-passing the aFP in the process.  Look what happened to Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan.  By the time the Pakistani authorities learned about the lightning american raid at Bin Laden’s hideout in their country, the architect of the 911 disaster in New York City had been buried at sea from an american vessel.     

In fine, the MILF threat is hardly intimidating.  It may cause some in-convenience and annoyance, but it will not intimidate the aFP.  Once the MILF and its masters in Malay-sia realize this fact, they will have to change their approach in dealing

with the Philippines at the bargain-ing table.   

  * * * * *although the Constitution pro-

vides that President Benigno aquino III is the Commander-in-Chief of the aFP, it does not vest in him the same title as regards the Philippine National Police (PNP).  The Presi-dent cannot be considered the com-mander-in-chief of the PNP because the latter is not part of the aFP; it is a civilian unit of the national govern-ment.  Police officials may be in uni-form but their uniforms are different from those worn by military officials. 

The PNP is under the department of the Interior and Local Govern-ment which, in turn, is under Presi-dent aquino.  This means that aqui-no has ultimately authority over the PNP as chief executive.     

any marked difference between being the commander-in-chief and being the chief executive is largely titular, as demonstrated by the con-spicuous presence of the President in the commencement ceremonies of the Philippine Military academy and the Philippine National Police academy. 

Is there really a big difference be-tween being commander-in-chief and being chief executive in figuring out if the president is competent or oth-erwise to lead the nation?  Both the soldier and the policeman will have to salute President aquino whenever they encounter him, anyway.  Inevi-tably, whether or not aquino is the “commander-in-chief ” of the PNP is immaterial for the purpose of ascer-taining if he bungled his duties and responsibilities as the president of the country.    

since he is the public official vest-

ed by the Constitution and by law with the ultimate authority over the PNP, President aquino cannot avoid the blame for the Mamasapano Mas-sacre in Maguindanao on the lame excuse that he is not the commander-in-chief of the PNP. 

 * * * * *The official result of the senate

probe on the Mamasapano Massacre should add to the legal worries of ex-PNP chief alan Purisima.  accord-ing to the senate report, Purisima usurped the powers of the PNP chief while he was suspended from office by the Office of the Ombudsman.  In particular, Purisima convinced Pres-ident aquino about “Operation exo-dus” and he was directly involved in the operation.  Just recently, aquino lamented that Purisima deceived him about the operation.    

Purisima’s participation in Opera-tion exodus was anchored on his being the top, albeit suspended, policeman in the country.  By involving himself in the operation, Purisima violated the suspension order issued against him. 

  raps for usurpation of authority should be filed against Purisima im-mediately.  If Purisima is allowed to go free with just a slap on the wrist, suspension orders issued by the Of-fice of the Ombudsman will become meaningless.  When that happens, the provisions of the Constitution and the laws governing the account-ability of public officers will be ren-dered inutile.  Lawlessness will ulti-mately prevail, and that will be the beginning of the end of honest gov-ernment in this country.

The Ombudsman should do some-thing about this affront to the law by a law enforcer.      

A11adelle chuaE D I T O R

S aT u R d aY : M a R c h 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

OPINION

HAIL TO THE CHAIR

VICTOR AVECILLA

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

Fall..From A9

draw your own conclusion what the MILF ‘s next step would be if it doesn’t get what it wants.

Back to manual poll count?Commission on elections spokesman James Jimenez

said the 2016 elections might revert to manual count-ing if the supreme Court strikes down the controver-sial deal between Comelec and the smartmatic suppli-er of the 82,000 precinct count optical scan machines.

That would pose a problem not for the conduct of elections which used manual counting before but for the brilliant Comelec officials who managed to swing a P268-million last minute deal with the Venezuelan company to extend the contract for the refurbished PCOs machines stored in a warehouse since the 2013 senatorial elections.

smartmatic might have a problem asking for a re-fund of the commission paid to certain officials if its equipment is discarded. The supplier, however, can-not claim it paid kickbacks to certain parties without implicating itself. The recipients, of course, will also deny there was such payment. That’s between the two of them. But the supplier of the PCOs machines might not really care if they had already been paid. The only losers are us poor saps--the taxpayers.

Other advanced countries, including highly indus-trialized Japan, have junked electronic voting and reverted to manual count because of questionable re-sults. Cheating can still be done in manual count but it is more difficult than the push-button PCOs that pulled off wide scale cheating in the 2010 presidential and 2013 senatorial elections.

Of graduates..From A9

You may not earn as much money by staying, but definitely, there will be other perks and highs. I speak as someone who has been in the devel-opment world for a number of de-cades and I continue to get that happy feeling when people approach to say that what we have done has helped them. There is no price tag for this.

You don’t have to be in my field to help, dear graduates. Just practic-ing your profession here, minimizing brain-drain, using your knowledge to help develop an enabling environ-ment for growth, these are very im-portant things you can contribute to by staying. The ways by which to help is only limited by your desire to do it.

While I say this, you should, of course do what is best for your full development. If you must leave, just do not forget that you have a home to come back to. While you are out, your country will help take care of your family. On the other hand, you can still help your home even while away. Learn what you can outside, come back home, and invest some here.

We will welcome you with open arms.

In school, you had to live by its rules. Now, you can live by your own. In pursuing your dreams us-ing your own rules, be guided by

the values of fairness and justice, of upholding rights, and caring for others and the planet. succeeding in your chosen field and helping make this world a little better are not mu-tually exclusive. Consider both as in fulfillment of our responsibilities to the future generations, including your own children, should you de-cide to become parents.

The world has become much more competitive. Inequalities are more pronounced. Not everyone will com-plete a college education like you. In fact, the big majority will not get a college diploma. This gives you a distinct advantage over many in your generation especially in this world that puts premium in the letters that come before or after one’s name.

This does not however, mean that things will be easy. Far from it. There will be challenges, big an small. There may even be failures. But the fact that you have hurdled the university means that you should have acquired the discipline needed to rise up and weather the storm, so to speak.

If you work hard, nothing can stop you from achieving more. But, as you push forward in life, do not forget the others who do not have the opportunities you have. They, too, have the right to a decent, hu-mane, way of life. as you go up the ladder, help some of them also go

up a little. again, you will not have a shortage of ways to do this.

Graduates, the next big names will come from your ranks, whether it be in politics or economics. In ten years or so, a new breed of leaders will rise and your leadership will be more effective if you remain rooted in the people. Please do not lose the connection with the masses. This will make you better rounded per-sons, more grounded, and pragmat-ic leaders.

My generation will continue to help out as we were admonished way back then. But we also look forward to witnessing the birth of a new kind of leadership. We need leaders who care enough, who will do things to make this complicated, deteriorating, sometimes cruel and chaotic world a bit more livable for the coming gen-erations.

dear graduates, much rests on your shoulders. enjoy the adventure, you have the time. dare and take risks, you will learn from these. experience failure, and get-up triumphant. de-fine yourselves and respect others as they do the same.

eventually, rise up to the challenges of leadership and take charge.

For now, congratulations!

bethangsioco@gmail.com and @bethangsioco on Twitter

A12 sports

Loreto wantsto unify titles

Que ties Tabuena at helm

Loreto and his trainer Joven Jorda quietly arrived back in Manila re-cently following the former’s stunning first-round knockout against South African Nkosinathi Joyi at the Mdant-sane Gymnasium on Sunday in East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa, where he successfully defended the crown he stole against the same foe more than a year ago.

“Hinog na si Loreto for greater fights. We will try to reach the camp of Gue-varra to arrange the bout,” said Santig, who failed to join his wards in South Africa due to a visa problem.

Guevarra won his last six fights, three of them by KO, and the last was against Japanese Yaegashi to claim the WBC lightflyweight title. His fight record of 24 wins (16 KOs), 1 loss, 1 draw does not intimidate Loreto.

“Sanay na si Loreto na underdog, kaya wala sa kanya ‘yang records pag-akyat ng ring,” said Santig.

Loreto, a native of Davao del Sur, had a record of 8 losses and 11 wins before hooking up with Santig and trainer Joven Jorda in La Trinidad, Benguet to become a mature fighter the he is now. He won 12 of last 14 fights for a total fight record of 20

wins (12 KOs) and 13 losses.In fact, his credentials were even

questioned by some boxing observers before his title fight to Joyi in Febru-ary last year, saying he could be enter-ing the lion’s den against the two-time world champion.

He, however, silenced his critics by knocking out Joyi and repeated the same feat in their rematch despite seemingly insurmountable odds.

His trainer recalled how they cried together at the dressing room before go-ing out to the arena. They arrived in East London two days before the fight, with nothing much but their faith in God.

“Hindi kami nakapag-ensayo ng husto dahil sa injury nya. Dahil wala si boss (Brico) doon, hindi naasikao ‘yung tamang pagkain namin. Umiiyak kami pareho sa dressing room before the fight, sabi ko kay Loreto, kahit naman pareho tayong buwang-buwang (crazy), ito ang isa sa mga oras na talagang sa Diyos lang tayo aasa,” said Jorda.

Loretosaid he will use the purse to build his dream house in Davao. Prob-lem is, the prize money he was promised has not yet been given to his manager.

Brico did not elaborate but said they are still waiting.

ANGELO Que made a scorching start and a blazing finish to card a six-under 66 then watched Miguel Tabuena flub a birdie putt from close range on the 18th to forge a tie and a showdown for the P3.5 mil-lion ICTSI Manila Masters crown at the Eastridge Golf Club in Binango-nan, Rizal yesterday.

Que finally made the most of the preferred lies rule, birdying the first four holes in impressive fashion then holing out with two more bird-ies for that 66 and a seven-under 209 aggregate and a crack at the first-ever crown in four years for the three-time Asian Tour champion.

A flight behind Que, Tabuena ac-tually looked headed to regaining

the lead he lost to Clyde Mondilla in the second round as he headed to the par-5 18th, which he birdied in the first two days. But he misread the putt from around five feet, the ball stopping short of target for a 69.

Tied at 209, Tabuena and Que will thus dispute a Philippine Golf Tour championship for the second straight week after the former outlasted the latter to claim last week’s ICTSI Splendi-do Classic crown by one.

The duo also clashed in the final flight in last year’s Solaire Open but Tabuena fumbled with a 76 and wound up joint seventh and Que skied to an 82 and ended up joint 21st.

IBO boxing champ Rey Loreto with manager Brico Santig (left) and trainer Jo-ven Jorda upon their arrival in Manila.

Saturday: Marc h 28, 2015

sports@thestandard.com.ph

By Randy Caluag

AFTER a successful mandatory defense of his Inter-national Boxing Organization junior flyweight belt, Rey Loreto now has the luxury of choosing his next opponent and his manager, Brico Santig, is eyeing World Boxing Council king Pedro Guevarra for a unification bout.

Republ ic of the Phi l ipp inesREGIONAL TRIAL COURTNat ional Capi ta l Region

Branch 46 , Mani laIn the mat ter o f the Pet i t ionFor Rehabi l i t a t ion of Phi l ipp ine Journa l is ts , Inc . ,

SP- PROC. NO. 14 -132862

ALMEGA MANAGEMENT AND INVESTMENT CORP. , Pet i t ioner

COMMENCEMENT ORDER

Before th is Cour t i s the PETIT ION FOR INVOLUNTARY REHABILITATION f i l ed by ALMEGA MANAGEMENT AND INVESTMENT CORP as Pet i t i oner.

The Pet i t i on a l leged in substance the fo l low ing:

The debto r corporat ion i s Ph i l ipp ine Journa l i s ts Inc . (PJ I) a corporat ion du ly o rgan ized and ex is t ing under Ph i l ipp ine laws, w i th p r inc ipa l o f f i ce a t Journa l Bu i ld ing, Ra i l road S t reet , bet ween 19 th and 20 th S t reets , Por t A rea, Man i la .

PJ I was incorporated on 02 November 1972 w i th a corporate te rm of f i f t y (50) years . I t was p r imar i l y es tab l i shed to car r y on a bus iness as operato r and /o r p ropr ie to r o f mass media communicat ion such as newspapers , journa ls , magaz ines, books and l i te rar y works and under tak ing, rad io and te lev is ion b roadcast ing s ta t ions on a commerc ia l and /o r sus ta in ing bus iness.

PJ I i s main ly engaged in p r in t ing bus iness and pub l i ca t ion o f newspapers and magaz ines, such as Peop le’s Journa l , Peop le’s Ton ight and Women’s Journa l .

That Based on i t s aud i ted f inanc ia l s ta tements , PJ I has the fo l low ing assets fo r the years ended 2013 and 2012:

Assets 2013 2012Cash 1,026,656 1,186,502Trade and o ther Rece ivab les Net 140,74 4,692 128 ,70 4,389Invento r ies 29,205,823 28 ,674,358Prepayment & o ther depos i t s 825,127Tota l Cur rent Assets 170,977,171 159,39 0,376

Non - cur rent Assets

Ava i lab le fo r sa le secur i t i es 3 ,868 ,351 3 ,868 ,351Proper t y & Equ ipment -net 503 ,376 1,095,4 45Other non - cur rent Assets 3 ,921,775 3 ,921,775Tota l - non - cur rent Assets 8 ,320,502 8 ,885,571

Tota l Assets 179,297,673 168 ,275,9 47

PJ I has the fo l low ing l iab i l i t i es fo r the years ended 2012 and 2013 as fo l lows:

L iab i l i t i es

Trade and O ther payab les 760,759,5 41 74 4,179,151Income Tax Payab le 18 ,583,021 17,939,824Ret i rement Benef i t Ob l igat ion 99,76 6,289 83 ,76 4,127Due to re la ted par t ies 615,4 46,398 615,4 46,398Tota l L iab i l i t i es 1,49 4,555,249 1,461,329,50 0

PJ I has a to ta l capac i t y def i c iency fo r the years ended 2012 and 2013 as fo l lows:

Cap i ta l Def ic iency 2013 2012

Cap i ta l S tocks 4 ,324,50 0 4 ,324,50 0Treasur y S tocks (91,50 0) (91,50 0)Def ic i t (1,319,49 0,576) (1, 297,286,553)Tota l Cap i ta l Def ic iency (1,315,257,576) (1, 293,053,553)

As to the GROUNDS fo r in i t ia t ing the Invo luntar y Rehab i l i t a t ion by the Pet i t i oner, i t a l leged the fo l low ing:

A lmega is a credi tor o f Ph i l ipp ine Journa l i s t , Inc . ( “ PJ I ” ) w i th an aggregate c la im of a t leas t ONE MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND PESOS (P1,500,000.00)

Somet ime in Februar y 2014, A lmega was approached by PJ I to bor row money, wh ich wou ld be used by PJ I to set t le i t s a r rearages w i th Soc ia l Secur i t y System (SSS) in accordance w i th the la t te r ’s condonat ion p rogram but i t s f inanc ia l pos i t i on was not l i qu id in the meant ime. However, PJ I made the assurance that i t was expec t ing to co l lec t some of i t s rece ivab les f rom i t s c l ients w i th in a shor t per iod o f t ime. Thus, i t requested A lmega i f the la t te r can accommodate PJ I by ex tend ing a b r idge loan fac i l i t y to be pa id w i th in th i r t y (30) days .

A f te r A lmega and PJ I negot ia ted the te rms and cond i t ions o f the b r idge loan agreement , A lmega accommodated PJ I ’s request to bor row One Mi l l i on F ive Hundred Thousand Pesos (P1,50 0,0 0 0.0 0) ( “Sub jec t Loan” ) . A lmega and PJ I fo rmer ly executed a b r idge loan note on 0 4 May 2014, in wh ich PJ I p romised A lmega to pay P1,50 0,0 0 0.0 0 w i th in th i r t y (30) days f rom the sa id date, w i thout the necess i t y o f demand.

A f te r the Sub jec t Loan was executed, the p roceeds were re leased to PJ I in the fo rm of manager ’s check amount ing to P1,50 0,0 0 0.0 0 on 07 May 2014.

In May 2014, PJ I made use o f the p roceeds o f the Sub jec t Loan to set t le i t s a r rearages w i th SSS. PJ I wrote a le t te r to SSS mani fes t ing i t s in tent to pay i t s l iab i l i t i es .

On the s t ipu la ted due date o f 0 4 June 2014 fo r the payment o f the Sub jec t Loan, PJ I fa i led to set t le i t s ob l igat ion. From June to August 2014, A lmega had been t r y ing to co l lec t f rom PJ I but the la t te r wou ld de lay the payment fo r the a l leged reasons that PJ I had d i f f i cu l t y co l lec t ing i t s rece ivab les and that i t was in the midd le o f var ious l i t i ga t ions . A f te r PJ I fa i led to set t le i t s ob l igat ion desp i te repeated demands by A lmega, the la t te r fo rmal ly sent a demand le t te r dated 10 September 2014.

In i t s le t te r- rep ly dated 20 September 2014, PJ I requested A lmega fo r the modi f i ca t ion o f the matur i t y date to 0 4 May 2015. PJ I exp la ined that i t s f inanc ia l cond i t ion i s a t a severe loss . Moreover, i t has severa l pend ing l i t i ga t ion f i l ed aga ins t i t and is heav i ly indebted to employees and o ther supp l ie rs .

Pet i t i oner, ALMEGA MANAGEMENT AND INVESTMENT CORPOR ATION prays that :

Immedia te ly w i th in f i ve (5) days f rom the f i l i ng o f the Pet i t i on, th is Cour t :

a. Waive the requ i rement o f ser v ice o f p lead ings, and in l i eu thereof, o rder that the not i ce o f such f i l i ng and ava i lab i l i t y thereof be ser ved on the in te res ted par t ies hereto;

b. I ssue a S tay Order ;c. Direc t ing the c red i to rs and in te res ted par t ies to

secure f rom the cour t cop ies o f the Pet i t i on and i t s annexes w i th in such t ime as to enab le them to f i l e the i r comment on o r oppos i t ion to the Pet i t i on and to p repare fo r the in i t ia l hear ing o f the Pet i t i on;

d. Stay ing the enfo rcement o f a l l c la ims, whether fo r money o r o ther w ise and whether such enfo rcement i s by cour t ac t ion o r o ther w ise and whether such enfo rcement i s by cour t ac t ion o r o ther w ise, aga ins t PJ I and the i r th i rd par t y mor tgagors;

e. Proh ib i t ing PJ I f rom se l l ing , encumber ing, t rans fe r r ing o r d ispos ing in any manner any o f i t s p rosper i t i es except in the o rd inar y course o f bus iness;

f. Proh ib i t ing PJ I f rom mak ing any payment o f i t s l iab i l i t i es outs tand ing as o f the date o f f i l i ng the pet i t i on;

g. Proh ib i t ing PJ I ’s supp l ie rs o f goods and ser v ices f rom w i thho ld ing supp ly o f goods and ser v ices in the o rd inar y course o f bus iness fo r as long as PJ I makes s imul taneous payments fo r the ser v ices and goods supp l ied a f te r the i ssuance o f the s tay o rder ;

h. Direc t ing the payment in fu l l o f a l l admin is t ra t i ve expenses incur red a f te r the i ssuance o f the s tay o rder ; and

i. Other mat te rs as set fo r th in Ru le 2 , Sec t ion 8 o f F inanc ia l Rehab i l i t a t ion Ru le o f Procedure o f 2013 (a .m. No. 12-12-11- SC)

j. Set th is Pet i t i on fo r in i t ia l hear ing;k. Direc t PJ I to cause the pub l i ca t ion o f the S tay

Order pursuant to the F inanc ia l Rehab i l i t a t ion Ru le o f Procedure o f 2013;

Th is Cour t i ssued an Order dated Januar y 12, 2015 d i rec t ing the Pet i t i oner the fo l low ing:

“As provided under Sect ion 7 of A . M . No. 12 -12 -11- SC Financia l Rehabi l i ta t ion Rules of Procedure (2013) Pet i t ioner is hereby g iven a per iod of f ive (5 ) work ing days f rom rece ipt of the not ice of th is Order to amend or supplement the pet i t ion or to submit such documents as maybe necessar y or proper to put the pet i t ion in proper order based on the above d iscussion.”

Pet i t i oner f i l ed Compl iance and submi ts the Amended Proposed Rehab i l i t a t ion P lan in compl iance w i th the Order o f the Cour t dated Januar y 12, 2015.

A f te r a carefu l rev iew of the PETIT ION FOR INVOLUNTARY REHABILITATION f i l ed under Ru le 2 (A)(2) o f the F inanc ia l Rehab i l i t a t ion Ru les o f Procedure by Pet i t i oner ALMEGA MANAGEMENT AND INVESTMENT CORP. i t s ver i f i ed a l legat ions a t tached annexes and suppor t ing documents th is cour t f inds the same SUFFICIENT IN FORM AND IN SUBSTANCE as p rov ided under Sec t ion 7 o f the F inanc ia l Rehab i l i t a t ion Ru les o f Procedure (2013) .

The Phi l ipp ine Journa l is t , Inc . , the debto r corporat ion i s hereby dec lared UNDER REHABILITATION .

The Pet i t i oner i s d i rec ted to cause the pub l i ca t ion o f the not ice o f Commencement o rder and the Commencement Order in a newspaper o f genera l c i rcu la t ion in the Ph i l ipp ines once a week fo r t wo (2) consecut ive weeks, w i th f i r s t pub l i ca t ion to be made w i th in seven (7) days f rom the t ime o f i t s i ssuance.

The Pet i t i oner i s hereby d i rec ted to ser ve by persona l de l i ver y a copy o f the Pet i t i on on the debto r w i th in f i ve (5) days f rom the issuance o f th is o rder.

Pet i t i oner i s hereby d i rec ted to ensure that fo re ign c red i to rs w i th no known address in the Ph i l ipp ines be ser ved a copy o f the Commencement Order a t the i r fo re ign addresses in such manner that w i l l ensure that the fo re ign c red i to r w i l l rece ive a copy o f the o rder a t leas t f i f teen (15) days befo re the in i t ia l hear ing.

On the mat te r o f the Rehab i l i t a t ion Rece iver, the Cour t hereby appo ints FLORENCIO Y. ROJAS, JR . as Rehab i l i t a t ion Rece iver, one o f the Nominees o f the Pet i t i oner.

Cred i to rs a re hereby d i rec ted to f i l e the i r ver i f i ed not i ces o f c la ims w i th the cour t a t leas t f i ve (5) days befo re the in i t ia l hear ing date, and hereby warns that the i r fa i lure to do so on t ime wi l l bar them f rom par t ic ipat ing in the rehabi l i t a t ion proceedings but w i l l not p re jud ice the i r r ight to rece ive d is t r ibu t ions i f recommended by the rehab i l i t a t ion rece iver and approved by the cour t , in accordance w i th Sec t ion 12 o f th is Ru le.

A l l the Cred i to rs , the B IR , and a l l in te res ted par t ies ( inc lud ing the regu la to r y agenc ies concerned) to f i l e to th is Cour t and ser ve on the debto r a ver i f ied comment on or opposi t ion to the pet i t ion , w i th suppor t ing a f f idav i ts and documents , not la ter than f i f teen (15) days befo re the date o f the f i r s t in i t ia l hear ing.

Phi l ipp ine Journa l is t , Inc . supp l ie rs o f goods and ser v ices are hereby p roh ib i ted f rom w i thho ld ing the supp ly o f goods and ser v ices in the o rd inar y course o f bus iness fo r as long as the debto r makes payments fo r the ser v ices o r goods supp l ied a f te r the i ssuance o f the Commencement Order Payment o f admin is t ra t i ve expenses is a lso hereby author ized as they become due.

The case is hereby set fo r in i t ia l hear ing on Apr i l 22 , 2015 a t 1:30 P.M. Rm. 459, 4 th f loor, Ci t y Ha l l o f Mani la , o f th is Cour t , fo r the purpose o f dete rmin ing whether there i s substant ia l l i ke l ihood fo r the debto r to be rehab i l i t a ted.

Cred i to rs and a l l o ther in te res ted par t ies may examine o r reproduce the Pet i t i on fo r Rehab i l i t a t ion wh ich i s ava i lab le w i th th is Cour t .

Any c red i to r o r debto r who is not the pet i t i oner may submi t the name or nominate any o ther qua l i f i ed person to the pos i t ion o f rehab i l i t a t ion rece iver a t leas t f i ve (5) days befo re the in i t ia l hear ing.

A l l cont rac ts not conf i rmed in wr i t ing by the debto r w i th in n inet y (9 0) days fo l low ing the i ssuance o f the commencement o rder sha l l be cons idered automat ica l ly te rminated.

The Cour t a lso i ssues a STAY ORDER as fo l lows:

(i) SUSPENDING a l l ac t ions o r p roceed ings in cour t o r o ther w ise, fo r the enfo rcement o f a l l c la ims aga ins t the debto r ;

(ii) SUSPENDING a l l ac t ions to enfo rce any judgment , a t tachment o r o ther p rov is iona l remedies aga ins t the debto r ;

(iii) PROHIBIT ING the debto r f rom se l l ing , encumber ing, t rans fe r r ing o r d ispos ing in any manner any o f i t s p roper t ies except in the o rd inar y course o f bus iness; and

(iv) PROHIBIT ING the debto r f rom mak ing any payment o f i t s l iab i l i t i es outs tand ing as o f the commencement date except as may be p rov ided here in .

The issuance o f th is s tay o rder does not a f fec t the r ight to commence ac t ions o r p roceed ings in o rder to p reser ve ad caute lam a c la im aga ins t the debto r and to to l l the runn ing o f the p resc r ip t i ve per iod to f i l e the c la im. For th is purpose, the p la in t i f f may f i le the appropr ia te cour t ac t ion o r p roceed ing by pay ing the amount o f One Hundred Thousand Pesos (Php 10 0,0 0 0.0 0) o r one - tenth (1/10) o f the p resc r ibed f i l i ng fee, wh ichever i s lower. The payment o f the ba lance o f the f i l i ng fee sha l l be a ju r i sd ic t iona l requ i rement fo r the re ins ta tement o r rev iva l o f the case.

Th is Commencement Order has the fo l low ing EFFECTS as p rov ided in Ru le 2 , Sec . 9 . o f the Financ ia l Rehab i l i ta t ion Ru les o f Procedure (2013)

The ef fec ts o f the cour t ’s i ssuance o f a Commencement Order sha l l re t roac t to the date o f the f i l i ng o f the pet i t i on and, in add i t ion to the e f fec ts o f the s tay o r suspens ion Order, sha l l :

(A) vest the rehab i l i t a t ion rece iver w i th a l l the powers and func t ions p rov ided fo r under the Ac t , such as the r ight o f access, and the r ight to rev iew and obta in records to wh ich the debto r ’s management and d i rec to rs have access, inc lud ing bank accounts o f whatever nature o f the debto r, sub jec t to the approva l by the cour t o f the per fo rmance bond posted by the rehab i l i t a t ion rece iver ;

(B) proh ib i t o r o ther w ise ser ve as the lega l bas is fo r render ing nu l l and vo id the resu l t s o f any ex t ra jud ic ia l ac t i v i t y o r p rocess to se ize p roper t y, se l l encumbered proper t y, o r o ther w ise a t tempt to co l lec t on o r enfo rce a c la im aga ins t the debto r a f te r the commencement date un less o ther w ise a l lowed under these Ru les , sub jec t to the p rov is ion o f Sec t ion 49 o f th is Ru le;

(C) ser ve as the lega l bas is fo r render ing nu l l and vo id any set - o f f a f te r the commencement date o f any debt owed to the debto r by any o f the debto r ’s c red i to rs;

(D) ser ve as the lega l bas is fo r render ing nu l l and vo id the per fec t ion o f any l i en aga ins t the debto r ’s p roper t y a f te r the commencement date;

(E) conso l idate a l l l ega l p roceed ings by and aga ins t the debto r to the cour t : Prov ided, however, That the cour t may a l low the cont inuat ion o f cases in o ther cour ts where the debto r had in i t ia ted the su i t ; and

(F) exempt the debto r f rom l iab i l i t y fo r t axes and fees , inc lud ing pena l t ies , in te res ts and charges thereof due to the nat iona l government o r the LGU as p rov ided in sec t ion 19 o f the Ac t .

The Commencement Order sha l l be in fu l l fo rce and ef fec t fo r the durat ion o f the rehab i l i t a t ion p roceed ings un less: (1) l i f ted by the Cour t ; (2) the rehab i l i t a t ion p lan i s seasonab ly conf i rmed or approved; o r (3) the rehab i l i t a t ion p roceed ings are o rdered te rminated by the cour t pursuant to Sec t ion 73 o f the F inanc ia l Rehab i l i t a t ion Ru les o f Procedure.

Not i f y a l l the par t ies o f th is Commencement Order. Not i f y the l i s ted c red i to rs o f th is o rder.

SO ORDERED.

Mani la , Ph i l ipp ines, March 20, 2015.

(SGD.) R AINELDA H. ESTACIO - MONTESA Pres id ing Judge( TS - MAR. 28 , 2015)

A13sports@thestandard.com.ph

sat urday: March 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

sports

Sharapova shockedby no. 97 Gavrilova

Hoffman leads Texas Open with a 67

Shopinas edgesMane N Tail bets

Seaoil karterdominatesopening day

The upset, biggest so far at the combined WTA and ATP Masters event, took one hour, 49 minutes and marked the worst defeat five-time Grand Slam winner Sharapo-va has endured in Miami since she lost in the first round on her debut in 2003.

“It’s sport, and I happened to lose the match,” Sharapova said of drop-ping her second-round opener af-ter a first-round bye. “Of course it’s a bit of a surprise ... I’m expected to win.

“But that’s one of the reasons

why we play the matches -- you still have to go out and win it no matter if you’re the favorite.

“Today I didn’t,” added the for-mer world number one, who has never lifted the trophy in Miami despite five trips to the final.

Gavrilova, who only broke into the top 100 on Monday, let out a squeal of delight upon sealing the win.

“I still can’t realize that it’s my dream,” said Gavrilova, who said she had dreamed of beating Sharapova ever since she saw her countrywoman beat Serena

BINAN, Laguna- La Salle sophomore Kim Dy joined veteran spiker Stephanie Mercado in delivering the big points for the Shopinas Lady Clickers Thursday at the Alonte Sports Arena here. Dy unleashed 17 points, including 10 on attacks as the Lady Clickers got past the Mane N Tail Lady Stallions, 25-22, 25-22, 16-25, 25-12, in the 2015 Philippine Super Liga All-Filipino Conference. Peter Atencio

Gabriel Tayao Cabrera scoots home to victory in the 2015 Petron Blaze 100 ROK Karting Super Series at the Carmona Race Track. Inset shows the SEAOIL karter displaying his trophy.

MIAMI—World number two Maria Sharapova crashed out of the Miami Open hardcourt ten-nis tournament on Thursday, ambushed by 97th-ranked Daria Gavrilova 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.

Williams in the Wimbledon fi-nal in 2004.

The surprise defeat of the sec-ond seed opens the door for a pos-sible move by Romanian Simona Halep from number three to number two in the world rankings behind Williams.

Too far behindSharapova lost the opening set

after nearly an hour and quickly found herself trailing the former junior world number one 4-1 in the second.

Sharapova clawed a break back but was then broken to love as Gavrilova set herself up for the win with a 5-3 lead.

She calmly closed out the big-gest win of her career on her first

match point.“I thought I was very composed

and just did my best,” Gavrilova said. “I was believing. When I sat down with my towel (at the end), I was crying a little bit.”

Sharapova said she simply left herself too much to do in the second set.

“I had little times where I did come back, but I was always behind,” said Sharapova, who was broken four times in the contest. “I put myself in a situ-ation that was too far behind to come back from.”

Gavrilova lives and trains in Australia, where she is coached with funding from the Australian federation and is pursuing Austra-lian citizenship.

Trimac was victorious once again at the Century Tuna Ironman 70.3 at Subic, Zambales last March 8. The team was led by Coach Jojo Macalintal (fifth from left), Trimac founder and head coach Jay R Avecilla (center) of Lighthouse Marina hotel and Paulo Legaspi (fourth from right), President Healthwell Nutraceuticals Inc.(Nice Day Coffee), together with the Trimac delegation from all over the Philippines.

SEAOIL karter Gabriel Tayao Cabrera out-dueled Lean Linao in a tight finish to cap-ture the leg crown at the start of the 2015 Petron Blaze 100 ROK Karting Super Se-ries at the Carmona Race Track.

Driving the new ROK Shifter for the first time, the multi-titled 15-year-old dished out top form to clinch top honors in the event.

As the youngest contender in the country’s premier karting class, Cabrera placed second in the time trials with 44.048 seconds, but bounced back in the qualifying heat and pre-finals.

True to his reputation as one of the few drivers in Asia who can drive well in a wet track, Cabrera held his ground with superb defensive moves in the pouring rain to hold the top spot in the final five laps en route to victory.

“There’s a saying that a good driver can drive well in a dry track, but the best ones drive well in the rain and I believe that. Winning races isn’t all about being the fast-est.   It’s how much you are in control of your kart,” said Cabrera.

Backed by DC, Gold’s Gym, Media Magic, R’s Design and Point Zero Proj-ect, Tayao Cabrera is prepping up for a very busy schedule next month.

With two local races in Batangas and Palawan, he is also set to fly to Malaysia to represent the country in the 2015 Asia Max Challenge. 

Apart from that, he is also slated to receive honors from the Automobile As-sociation of the Philippines after being awarded with multiple titles at the re-cently concluded Golden Wheel Awards as well as the PSA Tony Siddayao Award for being one of the nation’s most out-standing athletes.

SAN ANTONIO—Charley Hoff-man fired five birdies in a five-un-der par 67 on Thursday to take the lead by one shot after the wind-whipped first round of the US PGA Tour Texas Open.

Australia’s Aaron Baddeley also had five birdies with one bogey in a four-under 68 at TPC San Antonio.

He was one stroke in front of American Max Homa, who closed with back-to-back birdies to grab sole possession of third place on a three-under par 69.

Five-time major winner Phil Mickelson was tied for fourth with 70, despite an equipment mal-function that saw the head of his eight-iron break off on a shot from a fairway bunker.

He was joined at two-under by fellow American Ryan Palmer, whose round included an eagle and a double-bogey.

Only 12 golfers broke par as the gusty winds pushed scores up.

“It was really challenging, re-ally difficult,” said American Matt Kuchar, who was happy to get off the course after an even par 72 -- more than six strokes better than the morning scoring average of 78.61.

US Open champion Martin Kaymer of Germany had two tri-ple bogeys in an 82, while defend-ing champion Steven Bowditch of Australia opened with an 80.

Hoffman’s bogey-free effort looked even more impressive un-der the circumstances, although

he did benefit from playing later in calmer winds.

He hit eight of 14 fairways in regulation and needed just 24 putts.

Baddeley’s round included an unlikely birdie at the par-four 17th, where he hit his tee shot into the woods, took an unplayable lie and went back to the tee.

His second effort went straight, and as he started walking he heard the gallery roar -- his third shot had gone in for a birdie three from 336 yards.

“I just thought I’d just hit it straight and so I hit it and started walking and then heard the crowd going nuts,” he said. “it was like, ‘wait, I just made birdie.’” AFP

Games Sunday (MOA Arena)2:30 p.m. Philips Gold vs Shopinas

4:30 p.m. Mane N Tail vs Cignal

A14S AT U R D AY : M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

SPORTSsports@thestandard.com.ph

PLDT HOME Ultera tour gets boost from volleyball starsILOILO CITY—The volleyball fever spread to Iloilo residents as PLDT HOME Ultera Install Patrol brought to them the Philippine volleyball superstars from the women’s team Amihan and men’s team Bagwis.

Touring a number of cities nationwide, the Install Patrol program of PLDT HOME Ultera, which delivers ultra-fast LTE for the home of up to 10 Mbps, brings LTE broadband access to more homes in the country. This includes the Install Patrol celebrity crew comprising reigning Bb. Pilipinas-Universe Pia Wurtzbach, Bb. Pilipinas-International Janicel Lubina, Miss Universe 2014 Top 10 Finalist MJ

Lastimosa and top noontime variety show Eat Bulaga’s Wally, Jose and Paolo Ballesteros, among others.

The full-day volleyball showcase kicked off on March 21 with a motorcade comprising the volleyball superstars and a simultaneous volleyball clinic conducted by the Amihan and Bagwis team coaches at the University of San Agustin Gym.

As the Philippine volleyball superstars arrived at the gym, they were welcomed by thousands of fans including existing and new subscribers of PLDT HOME Ultera, who were given a chance to meet and greet the well-loved players. These included Rachel

Anne Daquis, Aiza Maizo-Pontillas, Mika Reyes, Peter Torres, Ran Ran Abdilla, John Vic De Guzman and Iloilo’s very own Jovelyn Gonzaga. The event was also graced by Ateneo Lady Eagles volleyball standout Gretchen Ho.

“We are excited to bring the PLDT HOME Ultera Install Patrol to the wonderful province of Iloilo,” PLDT VP and HOME Marketing Head Gary Dujali said. “On top of honing the talents and passion of young aspiring athletes around the nation, this is an opportunity for us to democratize broadband by making it more accessible to homes in far-flung areas, with the help of our Philippine volleyball

superstars and the local government units.”Iloilo is one of the many areas powered by

PLDT HOME Ultera. The Install Patrol tour will continue to Puerto Prinsesa, Palawan; CAMANAVA and more. For a chance to win free tickets to the biggest sporting events this summer, create a myHome ID, linked to your Ultera account.

PLDT HOME Ultera delivers Ultra-Fast LTE for a Happy Family with Internet speeds of up to 10 Mbps for as low as P999 a month. It is currently available in PLDT Sales and Service Centers, Smart Stores, and PLDT HOME Booths nationwide. For more information, log on to pldthome.com.

PLDT HOME Marketing Head Gary Dujali (center) with the Philippine volleyball superstars from Amihan and Bagwis.

Top...FromA16

“It’s our pleasure to host these lady professionals from around the world and to showcase their talents within the first class facili-ties of our property.”

The three-day event will see the elite of women’s professional pool playing 10-ball ac-tion in singles, doubles, triples, and 4-on-4 for-mats. The first team to win 10 matches takes home the coveted title as well as bragging rights on this epic continental clash between women billiards’ best.

The  AM8.com Queen’s Cup is sponsored by Andy Cloth  and Viking Cue and is hosted by premier lifestyle destination Re-sorts World Manila. The Queen’s Cup is a Dragon Promotions production.

To know more about tournaments and events at RWM, visit www.rw-manila.com or call Tour-ist/Visitor Hotline at (02) 908-8833.

Resorts World Manila (RWM) is the first one-stop, non-stop entertain-ment and leisure destina-tion in the Philippines that features recreational thrills, world-class performances, unique events, and excit-ing lifestyle options. Con-veniently located across Ninoy Aquino Interna-tional Airport Terminal 3, RWM is an instant gateway to world-class Philippine hospitality.

This integrated lifestyle hub is home to three inter-national lodging brands: the all-luxury suite MAX-IMS Hotel; the five-star brand MARRIOTT Hotel Manila; and REMING-TON Hotel which offers cozy and superb accom-modations for great value. Two more hotels—SHER-ATON Hotel Manila and HILTON Hotel Ma-nila—are currently being constructed which will effectively make RWM a five-hotel integrated resort.

Also home to RWM is The NEWPORT Mall which features interna-tional luxury brands. Ex-perience a unique viewing experience at The Newport Cinemas with stadium seating and state-of-the-art cinema technology. Watch grand-scale perform-ances at the 1,500-seater, ultra-modern Newport Performing Arts Theater (NPAT), which boasts state-of-the-art lights and sounds innovations, and the largest LED wall in all of Southeast Asia, or relax in the cozy surroundings and enjoy 24/7 entertain-ment provided at Bar 360.

Dine in one of almost 50 restaurant outlets offering a diverse selection of local and world cuisine, paired with a wide selection of the finest wines and popular liquors. Savor the culinary offer-ings of Filipino and foreign chefs who have mastered their craft through extensive experience in top establish-ments of major cities all around the world.

Republic of the PhilippinesMUNICIPALITY OF CABUGAO

Ilocos Sur

Invitation to Bid for the

Construction of Sitio Beckes Small Reservoir Irrigation Project

@ Brgys. Aragan, Alinaay & Carusipan Cabugao, Ilocos Sur

1. The Local Government Unit of Cabugao, Ilocos Sur, through the Trust

Fund intends to apply the sum of Twenty Four Million, Three Hundred Ten Thousand, Eight Hundred Thirty Four Pesos & 08/100 (Php. 24,310,834.08) being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for Contract No. 15-04-001. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

2. The Local Government Unit of Cabugao, Ilocos Sur now invites bids for the Earth Cut and Fill Including Excavation, Rubbel Concrete, Concrete Works, Plumbing Works, Plastering/ Rubbed Concrete, Construction of Catch Basin @ source area (Excavation, Rubbel Footing, Concrete Works & Slope Protection), Second Handling of Materials, Support/Pedestal of Plumbing Works, Construction of Cut-off Wall @ the Catch Basin (Excavation & Concrete Works) & Second Handling of Materials. Completion of the Works is required within 293 calendar days. Bidders should have completed, within two (2) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in General Conditions of Contract.

3. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-discretionary pass/fail criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 9184 (RA 9184), otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

4. Interested bidders may obtain further information from Local Government Unit of Cabugao and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

5. A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested Bidders from the address below and upon payment of a nonrefundable fee for the Bidding Documents in the amount of Twenty Five Thousand Pesos Only (Php. 25,000.00) It may also be downloaded free of charge from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and the website of the Procuring Entity, provided that bidders shall pay the fee for the Bidding Documents not later that the submission of their bids.

6. The Local Government Unit of Cabugao will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on April 8, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. at Conference Hall, Cabugao, Ilocos Sur, which shall be open only to all interested parties who have purchased the Bidding Documents.

7. Bids must be delivered to the address below on or before April 21, 2015 until 10:00 a.m at BAC-Secretariat. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.

Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted.

The complete schedule of activities is listed, as follows:

Issuance of Bid Documents March 26, 2015 – April 21, 2015 until 10:00 a.m Pre-Bid Conference April 8, 2015, 10:00 a.m. @ Conference Hall,

Mun. Hall, Cabugao, Ilocos Sur Opening of Bids April 21, 2015 @ 02:00 p.m @ Conference Hall, Mun. Hall Cabugao, Ilocos Sur Bid Evaluation April 23, 2015 Post Qualification April 24, 2015 Notice of Award April 27, 2015 Signing of Contract April 28, 2015 Notice to Proceed April 30, 2015

8. The Local Government Unit reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

9. For further information, please refer to: ENGR. HERMES A. ASITLGU-BAC-Secretariat Tel No. 077-728-5128, Fax No. 077-728-5565 (SGD.) ENGR. CRESCENCIO MARCOS C. FORMOSO Mun. Engineer/ BAC- Chairman

(TS-MAR. 28, 2015)

INVITATION TO BID FOR 2015No.2015-03-06

Two (2) lots Geo-Technical Equipment P.R. No. 2015-03-266 P and 2015-03-267 P

1. The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), through the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for CY 2015 intends to apply the sum of Twenty Eight Million Pesos (PhP28,000,000.00) being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for Two (2) lots Geo-Technical Equipment. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

2. The MGB now invites bids for the Supply and Delivery of the following Geo-Technical Equipment:

Lot No. Qty. Item ABC1 1 set Portable Magnetometer

System PhP4,000,000.00

2 4 sets Advance Portable Logging Equipment PhP24,000,000.00

Delivery of the Goods is required within Ninety (90) calendar days upon receipt of Notice to Proceed. Bidders should have completed, within Five (5) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

3. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183 and subject to Commonwealth Act 138.

4. Interested bidders may obtain further information from the address given below during office hours, from March 30 to April 16, 2015 between 9:00AM to 4:00PM and may inspect, purchased a complete set of Bidding Documents upon payment of a non-refundable fee in the amount of Four Thousand Pesos (PhP4,000.00) per lot.

Preview of specifications can be downloaded from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS).

5. The MGB will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on April 06, 2015, Monday at 3:00PM at the Office of the Bids and Awards Committee, Mines and Geosciences Bureau, North Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City, which shall be open only to all interested parties who have purchased the Bidding Documents.

6. Bids must be delivered to the address below on April 17, 2015, Friday on or before 1:30PM. All Bids must be accompanied by a Bid Securing Declaration or any other bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.

Bid opening shall be on April 17, 2015, Friday at 2:00PM, at the Office of the Bids and Awards Committee, Mines and Geosciences Bureau. Bids will be opened in the presence of the Bidders’ representatives who choose to attend. Late bids shall not be accepted.

7. The Mines and Geosciences Bureau reserves the right to accept or reject and bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

8. For further information, please refer to:

Roberto D. Caseros Overall Head, BAC Secretariat Bids and Awards Committee North Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City Telephone No. 6676700 loc. 153 E-mail: bacems_minesbureauco@yahoo.com Website: www.mgb.gov.ph

(Sgd.) JUANCHO PABLO S. CALVEZ Chairman, BAC(TS-MAR. 28, 2015)

Republic of the PhilippinesDepartment of Environment and Natural ResourcesMines and Geosciences BureauNorth Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City, PhilippinesTel. No. (+63 2) 928-8642 / 928-8937 Fax No. (+63 2) 920-1635E-mail: central @ mgb.gov.ph

A15S AT U R D AY : M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

SPORTSsports@thestandard.com.ph

Pacman bloodies sparmate’s nose

The triumph of a common cause

IN what must surely be recog-nized as a television coup of the highest order, eight-division world champion Manny Pac-quiao and his longtime part-ners at Solar Sports, headed by its amiable CEO Wilson Tieng, have worked together tirelessly to fulfill Manny’s dream of uni-fying our country and people and using bitter rivals in the broadcast and telecommunica-tions industry to prove it can be done.

Pacquiao’s hope has always been to use his fights to serve as a unifying force in our country amidst the daily, debilitating di-visions that mark our lives and erode our hopes.

Manny has parlayed his persuasive powers anchored on his charisma and a straight-forward approach to helping get things done, to hammer out an agreement between the three major television networks—ABS-CBN, TV 5 and GMA 7, as well as GMA Radio’s dzBB and several other platforms, to telecast his ea-gerly anticipated multi-million dollar showdown with unde-feated pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. on a slightly delayed basis on free TV, but with the radio coverage as well as the pay-per-view ac-cessible on a live basis.

As Tieng of Solar Sports confessed, it was no easy task

getting an agreement accept-able to all the TV networks and that in pursuit of Pac-quiao’s unification dream—both in the ring as far as the titles of the various boxing or-ganizations are concerned—and all across our land with May 3 the starting point, he spent “sleepless nights.”

The only time we recall that an event was simulcast on television was the Dolphy Special, which was a tribute to the quintessential Filipino co-median and President Marcos’ public affairs program “Pulong Pulong sa Kaunlaran.”

The multi-network deal in the Marcos era was agree-ment which the broadcasters had to comply with as it was hammered on the anvil of Martial rule, unlike the deal on the Pacquiao-Mayweather telecast which was, by all accounts, a gift to the Fili-pino people crafted by parties ready and hopefully willing, to allow Pacquiao his mo-ment of glory and our people, their opportunity to witness an epic “Battle for Greatness.”

In the end, it didn’t turn out to be a case of the highest bidder winning out. but rath-er the triumph of a common cause to reach out to a pro-jected audience of 90 million Filipinos from Aparri to Jolo.

Nobody could have done this other than a genuine national sports hero, whose remarkable concern for his people, especially the poor, has characterized his journey in life.

It is one more compelling

example of the wide differ-ence in character of Pacquiao and Mayweather and effec-tively seals Manny’s place in the hearts and homes of mil-lions of his countrymen and millions around the world.

But while we give all praise to Manny, who in turn will surely look up to the heavens and praise and worship God for His infinite wisdom and goodness in helping make this happen, there are two other en-tities that need to be given the credit they richly deserve for making this happen.

The first of course is Solar Sports and CEO Tieng. They have had the exclusive rights to Pacquiao’s fights for the past 12 years and they were under no obligation to share what was lawfully theirs with their competitors in a sense since Solar Sports also has its own TV platforms.

The other is GMA 7, which also had an agreement with Solar Sports for exclu-sive telecast of the Pacquiao fights on the network.

That the leaders of GMA 7 agreed to a multi-network deal instead of holding on to their inherent rights which, from a business and TV rat-ings standpoint could have been huge, speaks well of in-dividuals like executive vice president Felipe Yalong, who put it very simply when he said “we owe it to the Fili-pino people” and conceded the fact that they reached out “in deference to the request of Manny Pacquiao.”

One cannot exclude ABS-CBN and Manny Pangilinan’s TV 5 from the resulting grati-tude of our people, because it was a tough ask for them and ultimately agreeing to be part of an unprecedented tie-up, reflects their own commit-ment to a common cause ar-ticulated by Pacquiao.

Now that the deal has been done, it’s time for everybody who cares for Pacquiao and wish him success in the awe-some task of ensuring that “Mayweather’s 0 has got to go” to give him space to train with-out hindrance or distractions and to refrain from bothering him for tickets and similar fa-vors that take up his time and undermine his focus.

Manny Pacquiao is surely one of the heroes of our time and his heroism has been further enhanced by his commitment to bringing our broadcast entities together so that as many Filipinos as pos-sible can witness the “Battle of the Greatest.”

Many years ago when he was beginning to carve a niche in boxing, Manny told his manager and father-figure Rod Nazario in our presence that he wanted to enter public service. The late Rod brushed it off, but Manny insisted.

We clearly recall his words which ring in our mind to this day— “I want to help my people, especially the poor people in our country.”

Congressman Manny Pacquiao—unquestionably a hero of our time.

inside sports

ronnie nathanielsz

By Ronnie Nathanielsz

EIGHT-DIVISION world cham-pion Manny Pacquiao picked up the tempo in sparring seven rounds at the Wild Card Gym yesterday with two tough spar-ring partners, who gave him all he could handle.

The Filipino ring icon ended up blood-ing the nose of Ken-neth Simms Jr. in four ferocious rounds.

Simms has been described as a “bur-ly and wily” 5’10” young welterweight from Chicago, with a record of 5-0, with 2 knockouts.

Pacquiao also

sparred four more rounds with unde-feated toughie Kean-dre Gibson, a welter-weight with a record of 12-0 with 5 knock-outs.

Publicist Fred Sternberg told the b ox i n g m i r ro r. c o m that Pacquiao “looked tremendous and was improving by the day.”

He said Pacquiao’ skills were evident although he cau-tioned the Pacman is not there yet, but was brimming with confidence.

In the face of Pac-quiao occasionally getting cramps in his legs, strength and con-ditioning coach Justin Fortune stopped the high altitude runs in Griffith Park and in-stead focused on short bursts of speed on the track of the University of California in Los Angeles, which he said was aimed at enhanc-ing Manny’s speed, strength and footwork.

Philboxing reporter Aquiles Zonio quoted Fortune who said:

“Manny has no prob-lems when it comes to stamina. He can last up to 15 to 20 rounds so the Griffith Park run is no longer use-ful. We would like to focus more on further improving his speed and strength.”

Zonio reported that Pacquiao ran eight laps around the track at UCLA before two sets of sprints from the lowest section to the top of the bleachers.

Fortune predicted that Pacquiao’s con-ditioning level will further improve by May 2 and added that Mayweather “will be shocked once he tastes the power of Pacquiao.”

Cray betters SEA games’ recordBy Peter Atencio

ERIC Cray, one of four Fil-American bets, who missed the 2015 National Open Athletics’ meet, proved that he deserves to see action in the coming Southeast Asian Games in Singapore.

The 27-year-old Cray took the gold medal in the men’s 400-meter hurdles in 50.93 seconds during the 2015 University of Texas-El Paso Springtime meet at the Kidd Field in El Paso, Texas last March 21.

He finished ahead of UTEP

bet Robert Camacho, who had a 50.93-second clocking for the silver, while Kyle Robinson of South Plains, settled for the bronze in 53.05 seconds, ac-cording to results provided by the meet’s official website.

Cray’s clocking was close to the national record of 50 seconds he set in the Asian Games last year, but according to pinoyathletics.info, it was faster than the 51.29 seconds he made in winning the gold during the 2013 Southeast Asian Games.

There are four Fil-American tracksters who did not join the

National Open, according to Philippine Amateur Track and Field Association secretary-general Renato Unso.

But the athletics’ body is monitoring their perform-ances abroad to see if they can make the cut.

This includes Bryan Mer-cado, who came up with per-sonal best times in the 100m (10.56) and 200m (21.48, good for fifth) sprints during the Cal State Los Angeles Invita-tional on March 8.

Also under evaluation are sprinters Princess Griffey and Kayla Richardson.

Republ ic of the Phi l ipp inesProvince of Or ienta l Mindoro

MUNICIPALIT Y OF PINAMAL AYANooOoo

BIDS AND AWARDS COMMIT TEE

INVITATION TO APPLY FOR ELIGIBIL IT Y AND TO BID

ITB 2015 – 18

1. The Munic ipa l Government o f P inamalayan, Prov ince o f Or ienta l M indoro th rough i t s jo in t B id and Awards Commi t tee (BAC) inv i tes b idders /supp l ie rs to app ly fo r the e l ig ib i l i t y and to b id fo r the hereunder p ro jec t :

Name of the pro jec t : Procurement o f 1 un i t TCM 75B -1-Whee l Loader

Locat ion : P inamalayan, Or ienta l M indoro

Approved Budget : Php 3 ,656,9 0 0.0 0 (Genera l Fund)

2 . B idders sha l l de l i ver the fo l low ing ser v ices /ac t i v i t i es , to w i t ;

I t em No. I tem Descr ip t ion Quant i t y Uni t1 TCM 75B -1 Whee l Loader

Japan Recondi t ioned

Techn ica l Spec i f i ca t ion:

Operat ing we ight : 12 ,30 0kg.

S td. Bucket Capac i t y : 2 .30 cu.m

PD60 4 D iese l Eng ine

Rated Output : 160 /220 0 PS/rpm

No. O f cy l inder : 6 Cy l inders

Transmiss ion : 4x4

T i re: 20.5 x 25

Min. Turn ing Radius: 5620mm

Dumping C learance: 2655mm

Dumping Reach: 980mm

Max. D igg ing depth . 225mm

Ar t i cu la ted C losed Cab in

Brand New Bat te r y

Pa inted in accordance w i th agency ’s spec i f i ca t ion

2 . The complete schedu le o f ac t i v i t i es i s l i s ted as fo l lows:

1. I ssuance o f B id Documents – March 20, 2015 to Apr i l 9 , 20152. Pre - B id Conference - March 31. 2015 at 2:0 0 PM at

the Mayor ’s Ex tens ion O f f i ce3 . Open ing o f B ids – Apr i l 10, 2015 at 2:0 0 PM at the Mayor ’s Ex tens ion O f f i ce4. B ids must be de l i vered to the address be low on o r befo re Apr i l 10 , 2015 a t 2:0 0 PM. A l l

B ids must be accompanied by a b id secur i t y in any o f the acceptab le fo rms and in the amount s ta ted in Inv i ta t ion to B id as fo l lows:

FORM OF BID SECURIT Y Min imum Amount in % of Approved Budget fo r the Cont rac t to be B id

Cash, cer t i f i ed check ,cash ie r ’s , manager ’s check , bank dra f t o r i r revocab le le t te r o f c red i t

Two percent (2%)

Bank Guarantee Two Percent (2%)

Suret y Bond Five Percent (5%)5 . The Munic ipa l Government o f P inamalayan reser ves the r ight to accept o r re jec t any bid,

to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any t ime prior to contract award, without thereby incurr ing any liabil ity to the af fected bidder or bidders.

6 . For fu r ther in fo rmat ion p lease re fe r to: MR . ENRIQUE N. MOCLING , HRMO/BAC Secretar y, Loca l Government of Pinamalayan, Or ienta l Mindoro.

(SGD.) MAURO P. HELER A Mun ic ipa l Admin is t ra to r BAC Chai rman Cc: O f f i ce o f the Munic ipa l Mayor Th is Munic ipa l i t y Commiss ion on Aud i t ( COA) Supp l ie rs Posted a t : Mun ic ipa l Bu l le t in Board Mun ic ipa l Pub l i c Market Bu l le t in Board Webs i te

( TS - MAR. 28 , 2015)

NOTICE OF LOSSNotice is hereby given to the public that Zuellig Pharma Corporation’s Collection Receipts with OR No. 149001L-149050L, 425001L-4205050L, 0000054301-0000054350 were lost.

Any transactions covered by these OR Nos. would not be honored by the company.

Zuellig Pharma CorporationKm. 14, West Service Road, South Superhighway

Corner Edison Avenue,Sun Valley, Paranaque City

(TS-MAR. 28, 2015)

ERRORS &

OMISSIONSIn Classif ied Ads sec t ion mus t be b r o u g h t t o o u r attention the very day the advertisement is published. We will not be responsible for any incorrect ads not reported to us immediately.

Manny Pacquiao (right) in a joyful mood during the press conference drum-beating his fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. CHRIS FARINA/TOP RANK

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

S AT U R D AY : M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

A16RIERA U. MALL ARI

E D I T O R

sports@thestandard.com.ph

REUEL VIDALA S S I S TA N T E D I T O R

Pacmanbloodiessparmate’snose

LOTTO RESULTS6/45 00-00-00-00-00-00

4 DIGITS 00-00-00-00

3 DIGITS 00-00-00

P0.0 M+

3 00-00-00

4 DIGITS 00-00-00-00

2 EZ2 00-00

TURN TO A15

SPORTS

By Jeric Lopez

MERALCO used a balanced scoring assault to cruise to a 97-82 drubbing of NLEX in Game 1 of their 2015 Philippine Basket-ball Association Commissioner’s Cup quarter� nal series last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

PREMIER lifestyle destination Resorts World Manila sets the stage for the world’s best women pool artists to shine as it hosts this year’s AM8.com Queen’s Cup.

From April 16 to 18, at The Plaza in New-port Mall, the second installment of the Queen’s Cup is ready to once again showcase the stand-ing rivalry between Asian cue artists and their American and European counterparts in a tour-nament format similar to the Ryder Cup in golf or Davis Cup in tennis. This year’s tournament

will feature pool greats from different countries all over the world under their respective East and West banners.

Made up of top rank talent, the four-wom-an West Team is composed of USA’s Jenni-fer Barretta and Vivian Villareal, and Billiard Congress of America Hall of Famers Sweden’s Ewa Laurance and Northern Ireland’s Karen Corr. The East Team, on the other hand, is comprised of South Korea’s Eunji Park, Tai-wan’s Jennifer Chen, former World Number 1

China’s Siming Chen and the Philippines’ own, World Champion Rubilen Amit who helped steer the East Team to a win in the tourna-ment’s maiden run last year also held at RWM.

“Resorts World Manila is once again thrilled to host this year’s Queens Cup. With a collection of talents this rich, this is arguably the country’s biggest women’s sporting event of the year,” said RWM’s director for Special Events and Promotions Francis Bonnevie.

TURN TO A13

Sharapovabows to

Gavrilova

The Bolts now lead their best-of-three se-ries, 1-0, and can march into the semifinals with another win in Game 2, scheduled to-

morrow in the same venue.

T h e wealth was well spread for Mer-

alco, with six players in double-figures.Hot-shooting Mark Macapagal came off

the bench to light up a team-high 22 points on 5-of-10 shooting from downtown, while Josh Davis was his steady self, tallying a burly double-double of 16 points and 21 rebounds.

‘’Tonight, we did a good job sharing the basketball. It made life easy that we made our outside shots,’’ said Meralco coach Norman Black. ‘’It will be challenge for us on how we’ll move into Game 2.’’

The other four other Meralco chargers in twin-digits were Sean Anthony with 14 mark-ers, also off the bench, Gary David (13), and Mike Cortez and Reynel Hugnatan, who each added 10 more.

Right from the get-go, Meralco showed it had ample power supply as it raced to a sizable 34-19 advantage at the end of one.

NLEX then started the second with a 9-0 run to slice its deficit to only six points, 28-34, at the 9:20 mark of the period.

But determined to regain command right away, the Bolts stormed back and finished the first half on 13-8 run that gave them another double-digit lead, 47-36, at halftime.

From there, Meralco held on the rest of the way and even led by as much as 23 points, 93-70, after Anthony’s jump shot with 3:33 remaining.

Al Thornton once again led the Road War-riors with his game-high 23 points and 11 re-bounds, but the support from his locals weren’t enough to give NLEX a chance in this one.

The Bolts did their cruising despite losing Jared Dillinger, one of their key components, in the first period after spraining his left knee. Dillinger left and did not come back.

Bolts close inon semis seat

Top women players vying in AM8.com Queen’s Cup

Filipino World-Champion Rubilen Amit will represent the country in the coming AM8.com Queen’s Cup 2015 to be held at The Plaza in Resorts World Ma-nila’s Newport Mall from April 16 to 18.

Turn to A14

Games Today (Quarterfinals - Mall of Asia Arena)3 p.m. • Talk ‘N Text (Twice-to-beat)

vs. Barako Bull5:15 p.m. • Rain or Shine

(Twice-to-beat) vs. Barangay Ginebra

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZASSISTANT EDITOR B1

SATURDAY: MARCH 28, 2015

business@thestandard.com.phextrastory2000@gmail.com

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

RAY S. EÑANOEDITOR

BUSINESS7,877.966.86

Closing March 27, 2015PSE ComPoSitE indEx

45

44

43

42

41

HIGH P44.760 LOW P44.830 AVERAGE P44.796

Closing MARCH 27, 2015PESo-dollar ratE

P44.760CLOSE

VOLUME 458.500M

oilPriCES today

P508.00-P728.00LPG/11-kg tank

P37.27-P42.82Unleaded Gasoline

P27.40-P31.70Diesel

P35.40-P39.15Kerosene

P23.70-P24.40Auto LPG

todayP27.40-P31.70

P35.40-P39.15

P23.70-P24.40

PP37.27-P42.82

Panay Energy, bankssign P11-b power loanBy Alena Mae S. Flores

PANAY Energy Development Corp. signed an P11-billion loan agreement with a consor-tium of local banks to finance the construc-tion of a 150-megawatt coal plant in the Vi-sayas set for completion next year.

First Metro Investment Corp. acted as lead arranger of the loan facility from a group of 11 local banks.

“It is in response to the looming power shortage in the country, particularly the Visayas area. We raised P11 billion from a consor-tium of banks,” FMIC president Roberto Juanchito Dispo said.

He said the consortium com-prised of “almost the entire bank-ing industry,” including Philip-

pine National Bank, Bank of the Philippine Islands and Metropoli-yan Bank & Trust Co.

“... we raised P11 billion from a consortium of banks... to expand by another 150 MW the exist-ing clean coal project in Panay,” Dispo said. “It’s a 15-year project finance structure.”

Panay Energy, a unit of Global Business Power Corp., the power inverstment arm of the Metrobank Group, owns the new 150-MW coal

plant in Iloilo City and another 164-MW coal plant in the same city.

“Completion is targeted on June 2016,” Global Business executive vice president Jaime Azurin said.

Panay Energy this month held a groundbreaking ceremony on the project. The expansion proj-ect can serve the power require-ments of the entire Visayas area, including the islands of Panay, Boracay, Negros, Cebu and Leyte, at a rate of P5.05 per kilowatthour for long-term supply agreements.

Global Power last year switched on the new 82-MW coal-fired power plant of subsidiary Toledo Power Corp. in Barangay Daan-lungsod in Toledo City, Cebu.

The Toledo plant now supplies the power requirements of Carmen Cop-per Corp.’s mining expansion projects.

The expansion project, mean-

while, can help ease the power situation in the Visayas grid and serve the requirements of major industries in western Cebu.

Global Business is one of the lead-ing independent power producers in the Visayas. Its power plants are stra-tegically located in areas where high growth is expected.

Global Business Power’s par-ent, GT Capital Holdings Inc. of tycoon George Ty, earlier raised $222.9 million (P9.84 billion) though a share sale.

GT Capital said Titan Capital Holdings Inc. and the Ty fam-ily sold 8.715 million common shares to foreign and domestic institutional investors at a price of P1,130.00 apiece. The selling price represents a 4.2 percent discount to GT Capital’s closing price of P1,180 on Feb. 2.

business@thestandard.com.phextrastory2000@gmail.com

BUSINESSSATURDAY: MARCH 28, 2015

B2

M S T52 Weeks Previous % Net Foreign High Low STOCKS Close High Low Close Change Volume Trade/Buying

MST BuSineSS Daily STockS Review Friday, March 27, 2015

FINANCIAL2.7 1.55 AG Finance 7.51 7.88 7.05 7.2 -4.13 166,200 75.3 63.5 Asia United Bank 70.45 70.45 68.7 70.45 0.00 15,390 690,658.5099.4 67.5 Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. 119.90 121.50 119.70 121.50 1.33 2,723,920 57,556,121.00105.2 82.5 Bank of PI 101.00 101.30 100.00 101.30 0.30 849,210 11,708,187.0063 50 China Bank 46.6 46.6 46.6 46.6 0.00 16,300 -4,660.002.3 1.9 BDO Leasing & Fin. INc. 2.34 2.34 2.25 2.32 -0.85 103,000 4.2 1.1 Bright Kindle Resources 2.29 2.35 2.15 2.32 1.31 402,000 86,380.0019.6 14.5 COL Financial 16.8 16.78 16.54 16.74 -0.36 2,100 -6,688.0031.6 23.2 Eastwest Bank 24.5 24.95 24.6 24.6 0.41 518,700 -5,657,155.0022.5 6.84 Filipino Fund Inc. 9.40 9.50 9.00 9.00 -4.26 168,000 -23,231890 625 Manulife Fin. Corp. 740.00 746.00 746.00 746.00 0.81 5,750 4,214,900.001.01 0.175 MEDCO Holdings 0.450 0.440 0.430 0.430 -4.44 820,000 92.9 69.35 Metrobank 97.6 97.5 95.2 97.3 -0.31 4,375,110 -3,613,846.001.65 1.2 Natl. Reinsurance Corp. 0.95 1.08 0.95 1.05 10.53 89,500 27,620.0030.5 20.45 PB Bank 18.32 18.40 18.34 18.34 0.11 2,100 75 58 Phil Bank of Comm 31.00 31.00 31.00 31.00 0.00 22,700 99 76 Phil. National Bank 78.10 78.50 77.90 77.90 -0.26 365,240 -17,430,283.50140 119 Phil. Savings Bank 95.20 95.30 95.00 95.00 -0.21 147,595 392 276 PSE Inc. 332.4 332 330 330 -0.72 4,300 59 41.5 RCBC `A’ 45.6 45.95 45.6 45.7 0.22 137,400 539,730.00146.8 105.1 Security Bank 171.7 173 169.9 170 -0.99 528,070 -30,983,362.001700 1281 Sun Life Financial 1385.00 1449.00 1392.00 1440.00 3.97 60 43,380.00130 116 Union Bank 69.25 69.25 69.10 69.10 -0.22 12,470 -126,506.502.8 2.25 Vantage Equities 3.02 3.03 3.03 3.03 0.33 20,000

INDUSTRIAL42.6 31.75 Aboitiz Power Corp. 45.4 45.7 44.5 44.5 -1.98 4,034,100 -92,637,665.006.1 2.51 Agrinurture Inc. 1.64 1.79 1.64 1.79 9.15 3,900 1.66 0.88 Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 0.00 1,000 2.3 1.25 Alsons Cons. 2.18 2.36 2.19 2.27 4.13 41,406,000 -270,420.0017.98 9.58 Asiabest Group 12.56 14.3 12.68 12.68 0.96 345,400 6,422.00113 40.2 Bogo Medelin 55.85 55.85 50 50 -10.47 4,130 148 15 C. Azuc De Tarlac 85.00 90.00 85.00 90.00 5.88 1,140 17.2 14.6 Century Food 20.2 20.55 20 20.55 1.73 166,600 459,260.0015.8 9.82 Cirtek Holdings (Chips) 28.3 29.2 28.15 29.2 3.18 645,400 -290,000.0056.8 21.5 Concepcion 63 64.9 63.45 63.7 1.11 5,010 -634.504.57 0.82 Da Vinci Capital 1.83 1.87 1.76 1.78 -2.73 5,400 -43,180.0039.5 17.3 Del Monte 11.28 11.98 11.3 11.7 3.72 222,700 739,188.0014 5.98 DNL Industries Inc. 20.500 20.900 20.3 20.300 -0.98 1,254,000 11,509,630.0012.98 9.05 Emperador 11.48 11.64 11.36 11.36 -1.05 3,679,500 666,126.008.15 4.25 Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) 8.49 8.59 8.37 8.50 0.12 43,193,100 -88,667,726.0012.34 8.68 EEI 10.04 10.30 10.04 10.30 2.59 1,013,100 7,883,366.0017 8.61 Federal Res. Inv. Group 23.4 24.25 23.45 23.5 0.43 267,900 -70,530.0027.1 12.2 First Gen Corp. 29.5 30.2 29.45 30.2 2.37 3,669,400 9,786,020.0090.5 48.9 First Holdings ‘A’ 100.4 100 99 99.6 -0.80 626,680 -34,064,182.5027 16 Ginebra San Miguel Inc. 14.10 15.00 14.00 14.98 6.24 41,200 11,020.000.014 0.0097 Greenergy 0.4600 0.4700 0.4600 0.4600 0.00 60,000 23,000.0015.74 12.8 Holcim Philippines Inc. 14.52 14.60 14.50 14.60 0.55 19,800 9.4 2.05 Integ. Micro-Electronics 6.7 6.7 6.6 6.67 -0.45 355,100 -94,846.000.98 0.32 Ionics Inc 0.620 0.620 0.620 0.620 0.00 9,400 57,040.00199.8 150.8 Jollibee Foods Corp. 218.20 219.60 215.60 217.40 -0.37 1,001,100 -94,120,612.0010.98 8.55 Lafarge Rep 9.62 9.62 9.51 9.6 -0.21 178,100 -639,714.0079 48.5 Liberty Flour 35.05 35.00 34.10 34.10 -2.71 600 5.2 2.8 LMG Chemicals 2.92 3.01 2.71 3.01 3.08 248,000 30 20.35 Manila Water Co. Inc. 27 27 26.5 26.9 -0.37 1,203,200 14,604,540.0090 12 Maxs Group 28.95 28.55 27.95 27.95 -3.45 374,900 -632,750.0014.7 10.1 Megawide 7.660 7.800 7.660 7.800 1.83 351,900 485,672.00317 246 Mla. Elect. Co `A’ 270.20 272.00 268.40 269.00 -0.44 141,320 -9,597,700.006.49 3.37 Panasonic Mfg Phil. Corp. 4.06 4.18 4.15 4.15 2.22 9,000 5.37 4 Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. 4.13 4.15 4.12 4.12 -0.24 765,000 547,960.0014.48 11.56 Petron Corporation 9.95 10.00 9.81 9.84 -1.11 3,492,200 -9,711,650.007.5 5 Phil H2O 5 5 5 5 0.00 100 14.5 9.94 Phinma Corporation 11.62 11.70 11.48 11.48 -1.20 59,400 -90,480.007.03 4.33 Phoenix Petroleum Phils. 3.99 4.00 3.86 3.97 -0.50 617,000 1,005,520.00 Phoenix Semiconductor 2.96 2.97 2.91 2.93 -1.01 3,870,000 29,300.00 Pryce Corp. `A’ 3.28 3.2 2.86 2.94 -10.37 357,800 -21,940.006.68 4.88 RFM Corporation 5.48 5.48 5.40 5.40 -1.46 247,200 -185,878.008.1 2.28 Roxas Holdings 6.47 6.48 6.2 6.25 -3.40 20,300 275 210 San Miguel’Pure Foods `B’ 204 205 203.4 203.4 -0.29 21,410 2,541,320.002.25 1.7 Splash Corporation 1.68 1.74 1.67 1.67 -0.60 8,600 -1,680.000.191 0.102 Swift Foods, Inc. 0.172 0.174 0.170 0.172 0.00 8,830,000 2.5 1.6 TKC Steel Corp. 1.35 1.46 1.36 1.42 5.19 216,000 2.68 1.37 Trans-Asia Oil 2.23 2.23 2.22 2.23 0.00 51,500 -68,820.00188.6 111.3 Universal Robina 218 223 218 212.2 -2.66 3,594,730 489,191,176.005.5 1.58 Victorias Milling 4.5 4.72 4.5 4.72 4.89 82,000 26,780.001.3 0.550 Vitarich Corp. 0.69 0.71 0.69 0.7 1.45 317,000 4,830.002.17 1.33 Vulcan Ind’l. 1.51 1.52 1.49 1.50 -0.66 98,000 -1,490.00

HOLDING FIRMS0.7 0.46 Abacus Cons. `A’ 0.475 0.475 0.465 0.470 -1.05 230,000 61.6 45.75 Aboitiz Equity 57.00 57.30 56.55 57.05 0.09 1,635,760 -14,204,159.5031.85 21.95 Alliance Global Inc. 27.25 27.30 26.38 26.95 -1.10 10,123,700 -45,377,175.002.16 1.6 Anglo Holdings A 1.44 1.43 1.34 1.43 -0.69 99,000 7.39 6.3 Anscor `A’ 7.00 7.07 7.00 7.07 1.00 35,000 3.29 1.8 ATN Holdings A 2.76 2.84 2.73 2.74 -0.72 379,000 2.05 1.04 ATN Holdings B 2.8 2.71 2.7 2.71 -3.21 34,000 747 508 Ayala Corp `A’ 780 780.5 777 780 0.00 529,290 242,903,170.0011.34 7.470 Cosco Capital 9.02 9.1 8.97 8.98 -0.44 1,970,700 2,723,315.0084 47.25 DMCI Holdings 15.40 15.72 15.22 15.58 1.17 5,856,000 54,038,458.003.3 2.51 F&J Prince ‘A’ 3.15 3.15 3.15 3.15 0.00 25,000 5.34 4 Filinvest Dev. Corp. 4.60 4.55 4.54 4.54 -1.30 79,000 0.23 0.144 Forum Pacific 0.330 0.335 0.320 0.335 1.52 1,260,000 195,200.001060 706 GT Capital 1331 1352 1321 1321 -0.75 50,225 -10,369,325.0059.8 36.7 JG Summit Holdings 71.70 71.70 71.20 71.30 -0.56 2,357,230 77,154,462.506.55 3.95 Lopez Holdings Corp. 8.75 8.84 8.6 8.75 0.00 2,382,300 7,966,478.000.9 0.58 Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp. 0.78 0.82 0.77 0.78 0.00 2,223,000 19.9 12.96 LT Group 16.38 16.78 16.36 16.54 0.98 3,593,600 9,101,782.000.75 0.580 Mabuhay Holdings `A’ 0.65 0.67 0.64 0.64 -1.54 27,000 5.4 4.06 Metro Pacific Inv. Corp. 4.95 4.93 4.88 4.89 -1.21 25,329,000 3,171,990.005.35 4.5 Minerales Industrias Corp. 5.2 5.2 5.2 5.2 0.00 105,000 0.0550 0.027 Pacifica `A’ 0.0410 0.0400 0.0400 0.0400 -2.44 600,000 88 54.5 San Miguel Corp `A’ 67.65 69.00 67.00 67.00 -0.96 808,920 -34,882,416.003.5 1.5 Seafront `A’ 2.85 2.95 2.90 2.93 2.81 59,000 84,400.00866 680 SM Investments Inc. 888.50 900.00 887.00 888.50 0.00 282,550 -148,948,910.002.2 1.04 Solid Group Inc. 1.25 1.25 1.24 1.25 0.00 34,000 156 58.05 Top Frontier 99.15 100.00 99.15 100.00 0.86 3,090 119,745.000.285 0.158 Unioil Res. & Hldgs 0.4500 0.4650 0.4350 0.4350 -3.33 14,880,000 0.245 0.150 Wellex Industries 0.2380 0.2470 0.2390 0.2400 0.84 230,000 0.510 0.295 Zeus Holdings 0.315 0.315 0.316 0.315 0.00 130,000

P R O P E R T Y9.03 5.51 8990 HLDG 8.960 8.950 8.850 8.880 -0.89 2,000,500 5,107,032.0026.95 12 Anchor Land Holdings Inc. 10.10 10.02 10.02 10.02 -0.79 2,200 1.99 0.99 A. Brown Co., Inc. 0.96 0.95 0.95 0.95 -1.04 20,000 -950.002.07 1 Araneta Prop `A’ 1.300 1.370 1.350 1.370 5.38 12,000 0.375 0.185 Arthaland Corp. 0.240 0.250 0.250 0.250 4.17 440,000 35.3 23.7 Ayala Land `B’ 37.60 37.80 37.20 37.60 0.00 7,873,400 -2,956,045.006.15 4.41 Belle Corp. `A’ 4.27 4.35 4.25 4.27 0.00 2,616,000 6,146,110.00

52 Weeks Previous % Net ForeignHigh Low STOCKS Close High Low Close Change Volume Trade/Buying

Trading SummarySHARES VALUE

FINANCIAL 12,177,662 992,377,063.87INDUSTRIAL 259,323,666 3,607,595,694.16HOLDING FIRMS 76,356,303 1,705,389,119.56PROPERTY 166,606,094 1,245,344,668.16SERVICES 717,715,273 1,307,029,410.4075MINING & OIL 727,151,096 620,562,414.76GRAND TOTAL 1,977,440,211 9,651,878,107.9175

FINANCIAL 1,857.52 (up) 4.67INDUSTRIAL 12,738.04 (up) 28.90HOLDING FIRMS 7,014.15 (down) 15.20PROPERTY 3,161.34 (up) 18.78SERVICES 2,098.33 (down) 6.48MINING & OIL 15,903.83 (up) 21.27PSEI 7,877.96 (up) 6.86All Shares Index 4,546.40 (up) 0.20

Gainers: 69; Losers: 100; Unchanged: 52; Total: 221

STOCKS Close(P)

Change(%)

Ferronickel 2.01 -10.67

Bogo Medelin 50 -10.47

Pryce Corp. `A' 2.94 -10.37

IRipple E-Business Intl 68.95 -7.33

Manila Mining `A' 0.0140 -6.67

Dizon 8.08 -6.37

Phil. Realty `A' 0.5100 -5.56

Apex `A' 2.84 -5.33

Island Info 0.242 -5.10

MEDCO Holdings 0.430 -4.44

Top LoSerSSTOCKS Close

(P)Change

(%)

Natl. Reinsurance Corp. 1.05 10.53

Agrinurture Inc. 1.79 9.15

Boulevard Holdings 0.1200 9.09

Ginebra San Miguel Inc. 14.98 6.24

NOW Corp. 0.530 6.00

C. Azuc De Tarlac 90.00 5.88

LR Warrant 3.910 5.39

Araneta Prop `A' 1.370 5.38

TKC Steel Corp. 1.42 5.19

Victorias Milling 4.72 4.89

Top gainerS

6.1 5 Cebu Holdings 5.3 5.35 5.29 5.29 -0.19 3,892,500 -6,318,277.005.6 2.8 Cebu Prop. `A’ 5.6 5.8 5.8 5.8 3.57 195,000 2 1.22 Century Property 0.94 0.96 0.93 0.95 1.06 155,000 782,090.000.201 0.068 Crown Equities Inc. 0.156 0.158 0.154 0.154 -1.28 15,970,000 0.98 0.47 Cyber Bay Corp. 0.465 0.460 0.455 0.455 -2.15 620,000 1.09 0.87 Empire East Land 0.900 0.900 0.890 0.890 -1.11 46,000 0.370 0.175 Ever Gotesco 0.200 0.200 0.196 0.196 -2.00 4,290,000 2.25 1.22 Global-Estate 1.49 1.50 1.48 1.50 0.67 922,000 -1,185,000.001.77 1.18 Filinvest Land,Inc. 1.80 1.81 0.18 1.80 0.00 46,568,000 56,548,090.001.6 1.19 Interport `A’ 1.47 1.50 1.45 1.49 1.36 545,000 4.88 2.75 Megaworld Corp. 5.53 5.53 5.46 5.52 -0.18 22,978,900 23,685,003.000.180 0.070 MRC Allied Ind. 0.122 0.125 0.122 0.124 1.64 1,390,000 123,000.000.470 0.325 Phil. Estates Corp. 0.3550 0.3500 0.3400 0.3400 -4.23 280,000 0.74 0.4 Phil. Realty `A’ 0.5400 0.5900 0.4800 0.5100 -5.56 1,127,000 4.45 2.5 Primex Corp. 7.77 8.05 7.8 8.01 3.09 2,846,400 -968,185.0024.8 18.72 Robinson’s Land `B’ 30.10 31.80 30.10 31.30 3.99 8,562,800 75,718,735.002.06 1.45 Rockwell 1.79 1.79 1.77 1.77 -1.12 68,000 3.6 2.9 Shang Properties Inc. 3.16 3.22 3.16 3.22 1.90 84,000 19.62 14.1 SM Prime Holdings 19.90 20.20 19.90 20.15 1.26 8,480,600 62,115,625.001.02 0.58 Sta. Lucia Land Inc. 0.85 0.85 0.83 0.83 -2.35 366,700 -8,300.006.66 3.05 Starmalls 7.27 7.41 7.25 7.3 0.41 19,109,500 1.96 0.87 Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. 1.100 1.110 1.060 1.100 0.00 596,000 96,300.006.5 4.37 Vista Land & Lifescapes 7.700 7.760 7.650 7.700 0.00 5,420,500 -37,444,987.00

S E R V I C E S3.25 1.55 2GO Group’ 6.8 6.87 6.5 6.6 -2.94 556,100 48,099.0043.7 27 ABS-CBN 63 63.15 62.9 63 0.00 19,730 1.43 0.92 Acesite Hotel 1.25 1.25 1.12 1.2 -4.00 312,000 1.09 0.59 APC Group, Inc. 0.690 0.710 0.690 0.700 1.45 342,000 12.46 10 Asian Terminals Inc. 14 14.3 14 14.3 2.14 27,900 370,046.0014 8.28 Bloomberry 10.36 10.56 10.32 10.40 0.39 5,571,100 -9,117,944.000.1640 0.0960 Boulevard Holdings 0.1100 0.1210 0.1100 0.1200 9.09 627,710,000 1,049,300.004.05 2.97 Calata Corp. 3.95 4.06 3.96 3.96 0.25 938,000 71 44.8 Cebu Air Inc. (5J) 85.3 85.4 84.9 84.95 -0.41 1,047,030 -40,819,981.509 4 DFNN Inc. 7.10 7.07 6.95 7.00 -1.41 58,200 1700 1080 FEUI 1000 1000 1000 1000 0.00 30 2008 1580 Globe Telecom 2024 2040 2002 2002 -1.09 68,950 68,865,800.009.04 7.12 GMA Network Inc. 6.48 6.55 6.45 6.49 0.15 102,600 2.02 1.2 Harbor Star 1.59 1.56 1.54 1.54 -3.14 486,000 118.9 94.4 I.C.T.S.I. 110.5 111.3 109.5 109.5 -0.90 1,193,860 6,304,281.000.017 0.012 IP E-Game Ventures Inc. 0.014 0.014 0.014 0.014 0.00 15,300,000 0.0653 0.026 Island Info 0.255 0.260 2.400 0.242 -5.10 21,200,000 245,900.002.2800 1.560 ISM Communications 1.2900 1.2900 1.2700 1.2700 -1.55 533,000 6.99 1.95 Jackstones 3.05 3.19 2.61 2.94 -3.61 948,000 54,000.009.67 5.82 Leisure & Resorts 8.50 8.88 8.45 8.78 3.29 292,900 -528,960.002.85 1.15 Liberty Telecom 1.98 2.05 1.98 1.98 0.00 10,000 2.2 1.1 Lorenzo Shipping 1.32 1.35 1.35 1.35 2.27 15,000 4.32 1.9 Macroasia Corp. 2.30 2.29 2.10 2.29 -0.43 19,000 1.97 0.485 Manila Bulletin 0.680 0.680 0.680 0.680 0.00 36,000 14.46 10.14 Melco Crown 9.02 9.3 9.02 9.06 0.44 1,329,600 2,855,853.000.62 0.35 MG Holdings 0.360 0.390 0.355 0.370 2.78 4,980,000 73,000.001.040 0.36 NOW Corp. 0.500 0.530 0.400 0.530 6.00 582,000 6.6 5.2 PAL Holdings Inc. 4.55 4.60 4.60 4.60 1.10 19,000 107 81 Phil. Seven Corp. 108.00 110.00 107.10 110.00 1.85 2,470 231,796.0011.3 4.39 Philweb.Com Inc. 13.50 13.48 13.10 13.46 -0.30 965,400 5,117,694.003486 2572 PLDT Common 2838.00 2844.00 2824.00 2830.00 -0.28 138,455 51,135,760.000.710 0.250 PremiereHorizon 0.580 0.590 0.580 0.580 0.00 1,717,000 2.01 0.26 Premium Leisure 1.460 1.550 1.470 1.520 4.11 18,489,000 -371,200.0048.5 32.2 Puregold 41.40 41.75 40.10 41.00 -0.97 1,078,100 -12,639,065.0074 48 Robinsons RTL 84.80 86.50 84.50 84.55 -0.29 1,242,340 22,707,769.50 SSI Group 10.24 10.50 10.24 10.26 0.20 2,969,300 -11,535,146.000.87 0.59 STI Holdings 0.72 0.72 0.72 0.72 0.00 1,871,000 11.46 7.78 Travellers 6.95 7.09 6.97 6.97 0.29 668,100 -37,060.000.435 0.305 Waterfront Phils. 0.355 0.355 0.335 0.355 0.00 1,060,000 170,000.001.6 1.04 Yehey 1.440 1.390 1.390 1.390 -3.47 5,000 -1,390.00

MINING & OIL0.0086 0.0028 Abra Mining 0.0058 0.0058 0.0055 0.0056 -3.45 465,000,000 5.45 1.72 Apex `A’ 3.00 2.84 2.84 2.84 -5.33 10,000 17.24 11.48 Atlas Cons. `A’ 9.00 9.00 8.96 9.00 0.00 350,900 691,296.000.325 0.225 Basic Energy Corp. 0.260 0.260 0.260 0.260 0.00 230,000 1.2 0.5 Century Peak Metals Hldgs 1.13 1.15 1.13 1.13 0.00 1,062,000 -23,940.001.73 0.76 Coal Asia 0.91 0.94 0.91 0.91 0.00 860,000 10.98 4.93 Dizon 8.63 8.70 8.06 8.08 -6.37 279,400 -24,700.00 Ferronickel 2.25 2.29 1.99 2.01 -10.67 61,226,000 15,262,450.000.46 0.385 Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. 0.430 0.465 0.420 0.450 4.65 17,770,000 0.455 0.3000 Lepanto `A’ 0.230 0.233 0.230 0.230 0.00 5,060,000 0.730 0.2950 Lepanto `B’ 0.239 0.239 0.236 0.236 -1.26 1,240,000 238,000.000.024 0.012 Manila Mining `A’ 0.0150 0.0150 0.0140 0.0140 -6.67 18,400,000 0.026 0.014 Manila Mining `B’ 0.0150 0.0150 0.0150 0.0150 0.00 4,800,000 8.2 1.960 Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. 4.88 5.1 4.88 4.98 2.05 1,481,000 -3,112,750.0048.85 14.22 Nickelasia 27.95 28.75 27.9 28.15 0.72 12,844,700 -94,875,815.003.35 1.47 Nihao Mineral Resources 3.96 4.08 3.96 3.96 0.00 2,483,000 407,010.001.030 0.220 Omico 0.7500 0.7600 0.7300 0.7300 -2.67 329,000 3.06 1.24 Oriental Peninsula Res. 2.130 2.130 2.070 2.070 -2.82 1,252,000 347,740.000.021 0.016 Oriental Pet. `A’ 0.0130 0.0130 0.0120 0.0130 0.00 74,100,000 0.023 0.017 Oriental Pet. `B’ 0.0140 0.0140 0.0140 0.0140 0.00 2,000,000 -28,000.007.67 4.02 Petroenergy Res. Corp. 5.85 5.85 5.70 5.85 0.00 6,100 12.88 7.8 Philex `A’ 7.5 7.66 7.57 7.57 0.93 252,500 -1,098,086.0010.42 6.5 PhilexPetroleum 2.59 2.59 2.56 2.59 0.00 514,000 -257,280.000.042 0.031 Philodrill Corp. `A’ 0.016 0.016 0.015 0.016 0.00 55,000,000 24,000.00420 123 Semirara Corp. 161.50 162.00 161.40 161.50 0.00 523,310 40,896,679.009 4.3 TA Petroleum 4.18 4.18 4.1 4.1 -1.91 27,000

PREFERRED44.1 26.3 ABS-CBN Holdings Corp. 64.5 64 63 63 -2.33 159,800 -1,768,515.00 Ayala Corp. Pref `B1’ 510 510 507 507 -0.59 4,350 60 30 Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B2’ 523 522 522 522 -0.19 100 116 102 First Gen G 115 115 115 115 0.00 9,730 FPH Pref C 500 500 500 500 0.00 2,600 -1,300,000.00511 480 GLOBE PREF P 515 515 506 506 -1.75 4,200 9.04 6.76 GMA Holdings Inc. 6.31 6.31 6.22 6.22 -1.43 11,000 9.67 5.82 Leisure and Resort 1.08 1.08 1.08 1.08 0.00 2,277,000 -289,440.00 MWIDE PREF 111 111 111 111 0.00 70 PCOR-Preferred A 1085 1080 1080 1080 -0.46 150 PCOR-Preferred B 1085 1100 1085 1100 1.38 835 PF Pref 2 1046 1046 1030 1045 -0.10 19,785 77.3 74.2 SMC Preferred A 76.1 76.1 76 76.1 0.00 445,900 -14,285,719.0078.95 74.5 SMC Preferred B 84 84 84 84 0.00 30,030 81.85 75 SMC Preferred C 84.5 84.5 84 84.4 -0.12 240,300

WARRANTS & BONDS2.42 0.0010 LR Warrant 3.710 4.120 3.710 3.910 5.39 1,285,000 -110,220.00

S M E10.96 2.4 Double Dragon 9 9.55 8.71 8.76 -2.67 14,519,300 1,128,615.0035 7.74 IRipple E-Business Intl 74.4 74.5 68.55 68.95 -7.33 4,680 Xurpas 10.74 11 10.4 10.4 -3.17 3,582,100 4,611,358.00

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS119.6 94 First Metro ETF 127.9 128 127.9 128 0.08 3,920

business@thestandard.com.phextrastory2000@gmail.com

BUSINESSSATURDAY: MARCH 28, 2015

B3

Markethits newrecord

Aboitiz selling P25-b bonds

Crown Asia’s P222-mmaiden offering cleared

Light Mall. SM Development Corp. opened its newest residential mall dubbed Light Mall at Light Residences in Mandaluyong City, becoming the first to offer a digital cinema experience for residents and neighboring communities. Shown cutting the ribbon during the opening ceremony of Light Mall are (from left) SMDC executive vice president Jose Mari Banzon, SM Prime Holdings Inc. chairman Henry Sy Jr., Father Andy Lim of San Roque Parish, Mandaluyong councilor Charisse Marie Abalos and Savemore Market president Jojo Tagbo.

By Jenniffer B. Austria

CONGLOMERATE Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. said Friday its board approved the sale of up to P25 billion worth of retail bonds to finance future acquisitions and infrastructure projects.

STOCKS rose for the third day to close at a new record Friday, led by property companies, a day after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas decided to keep interest rates unchanged, given the stable inflation.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, rose 6 points, or 0.1 percent, to settle at 7,877.96 on Friday. It was also up 9 percent since the start of the year.

The heavier index, representing all shares, was nearly unchanged at 4,546.40 on a value turnover of P9.6 billion. Losers outnumbered gainers, 100 to 69, while 52 issues were unchanged.

Developer Robinsons Land Corp. emerged as the biggest gainer among the 20 most active stocks, as it climbed 4 percent to P31.30. Retailer Starmalls Inc. advanced 1.9 percent to P7.41 while power producer First Gen Corp. gained 1.9 percent to P20.05.

Manufacturer Universal Robina Corp. added 1.6 percent to close at P221.40. Miner Nickel Asia Corp. rose 0.9 percent to P28.80.

Meanwhile, Asian markets were mixed Friday in edgy trade as investors track the crisis in Yemen, with fears that unrest in the country could turn into a wider Middle East conflict.

Wall Street provided another negative lead while the euro struggled to regain its recent strength after tumbling in New York from levels above $1.10 earlier in the day.

Oil price also dipped a day after surging in reaction to the unrest in Yemen. With AFP

THE Philippine Stock Exchange approved the P222-million initial public offering of Crown Asia Chemicals Corp., a company engaged in the production of plastic compound and pipes.

The maiden offering of Crown Asia Chemicals is the first IPO application approved by the PSE and the Securities and Exchange Commission this year.

Crown Asia will offer 158 million common shares, representing 25 percent of the company’s outstanding capital stock, at P1.41 per share. Offer period will be from April 10 to 17, 2015 while listing date was set on April 27.

Proceeds from the IPO will be used to fund the construction of a manufacturing plant, debt retirement and modernization of existing compounds and pipe plants.

The company hired Abacus Capital as the issue manager and underwriter for the offering.

Crown Asia is primarily engaged in the production of plastic compounds, pipes and related products for direct and indirect use in the construction and telecommunications industries.

The company generated revenues of P850.7 million and net income of P65.38 million in 2014.

It had total assets of P829.05 million and total shareholders’ equity of P562.90 million. Jennifer B. Austria

AEV said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the P25-billion bond sale, inclusive of an oversubscription option, would be issued in one or more tranches, depending on market conditions.

“The bonds will be registered under the Securities Regulation Code and is expected to be offered to the general public in the second half of 2015,” AEV

said. The bonds will be listed with

Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp.

AEV said its board delegated to management the final determination of the offer price, tenors, and other terms and conditions of the bonds.

Proceeds from the bond offering will be used to finance

planned acquisitions, future investments and other general corporate requirements, the company said.

AEV chief finance officer Stephen Paradies earlier said the company remained interested in various public-private partnership projects the government might bid out, including the P123-billion Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike project and the LRT 2 operation and maintenance project.

AEV is a part of a consortium composed of Ayala Land Inc., SM Prime Holdings Inc. and Megaworld Corp. For the LRT 2 project, AEV forged a 60-40 joint venture with Singapore-based SMRT International.

The conglomerate is also studying other PPP projects including the bundled airport projects, particularly the Bacolod-Silay Airport (P20.26 billion) and Iloilo Airport (P30.40 billion) as bundle 1 and the New Bohol (Panglao) Airport (P2.34 billion), Laguindingan Airport (P14.62 billion) and Davao Airport (P40.57 billion) as bundle 2.

AEV in partnership with J.V. Angeles Construction Corp. early this month signed a P10-billion bulk water supply agreement with the Davao City Water District.

The project t involves the construction of the country’s largest private bulk water supply facility together with a fully renewable energy-powered water treatment plant.

Katha awards. Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo (center) together with Undersecretary Ponciano Manalo Jr. (fourth from left), Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions executive director Ro-sario Virginia Gaetos (fourth from right) pose with the winners of the Katha Awards during the 61st edition of the Manila Fame on March 13, 2015 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City. Receiving the awards are (from left) designer Vito Selma of Vito Selma, visual artist Patricia Perez-Eustaquio and architect Tisha de Borja-Samson of E. Murio Inc., designer-entrepreneur Carissa Cruz-Evangelista of Beatriz Accessories, designer Maricris Floirendo-Brias of Tadeco Home, and social entrepreneur Bryan Benitez-McClelland.

B4

Creba proposes 2nd

mortgage institution

In BrIef

SATURDAY: MARCH 28, 2015

business@thestandard.com.phextrastory2000@gmail.com

Higher renewable energy rate bucked

BUSINESS

Supreme Court asked to stop FIT-ALL rate.

Neda visitors. Members of the US Department of Treasury paid a courtesy call on Economic Planning Secretary and National Economic and Development Authority director-general Arsenio Balisacan (right) on March 23 in Pasig City. The delegation led by Harry Tether (second, left row), advisor from the Office of Technical Assistance, asked about the current needs of the Philippines and expressed the US intention to offer technical support and expertise in public-private partnerships. With Tether are (from left) Milosz Mogilnicki, resident advisor to Indonesia, and David Schnier and Kyle Fisher of the economic section of the US Embassy.

By Othel V. Campos

THE country’s big-gest group of real estate developers is urging the govern-ment to create a sec-ondary mortgage in-stitution to manage some P220 billion in funds once the pro-posed bill on housing and urban develop-ment is approved.

The Chamber of Real Estate & Builder’s Associations Inc. has pushed for the creation of the Centralized Home Financing Pro-gram using annual investment in bonds worth P25 billion from the Social Security System, P25 billion from the Government Service In-surance System and P70 billion by the Pag-IBIG Fund.

Another P100 billion will come from the unused agri-agra funds of banks.

“We’ve been pushing for this for the longest time. What is encouraging now is the support we get from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas,” Creba president Charlie Gorayeb told reporters at the sidelines of the group’s third

monthly meeting at the Hotel In-tercontinental Manila in Makati City.

He said the real estate sector was in talks with Bangko Sentral Deputy Governor Diwa Guini-gundo to help low-income earn-ers gain access to low-interest fi-nancing from commercial banks.

The group suggested to banks an interest rate cap of 3 percent on lending to secondary financial institutions, which in turn will extend to homebuyers at 4.5 per-cent for socialized housing and

6.5 percent for economic housing loans.

Socialized housing covers resi-dential subdivision and medium-rise condominium units below P1.2 million each, while econom-ic housing covers subdivisions and medium-rise buildings sold above P1.25 million but not more than P3.2 million.

Creba wants to resolve the 5.5 million housing backlog and build as much as 500,000 units each year over the next 20 years.

It said the government should

support the creation of as much as 10 million housing units by 2025, adding the backlog was taking its toll on the people’s eco-nomic and social growth.

Under the Comprehensive and Integrated Shelter Finance Act of 1994, a set of non-budgetary funding sources will be used to augment the annual national housing appropiration that in-cludes unused agri-agra alloca-tion funds from banks which “shall be invested in socialized and low-cost housing.”

By Alena Mae S. Flores

CONSUMER advocacy group CitizenWatch has joined the call to stop the implementation of the feed-in tariff allowance, or FIT-ALL, which translates into an additional P0.0406 per kilowatt-hour charge on power consumers to encourage the production of renewable energy.

CitizenWatch sought Thurs-day a temporary restraining order with the Supreme Court against the implementation of FIT-ALL

“We are not against the use of renewable energy and are in fact encouraging its use as an alterna-tive source. What we are ques-tioning is the manner in which

FIT-ALL is being collected and how the money will be spent,” said Tim Abejo, CitizenWatch co-convenor in a statement.

The FIT-ALL took effect in January this year. It was con-ceptualized to offset the high development costs of develop-ing cleaner renewable energy, provide investors with extra fi-nancial cushion and guarantee the recovery of their capital in a

reasonable amount of time.“But it is as if we are saying to

investors, ‘Your risk is guaran-teed.’ With the current set-up of the collection scheme, this is equivalent to collecting money without a purpose. This makes it unconstitutional,” Abejo said.

Abejo said the characteristic of the FIT-ALL made it similar to the Priority Development As-sistant Fund, or PDAF, which the Supreme Court declared un-constitutional.

“This is very dangerous, be-cause it gives the collecting agency a free hand on how to spend the money without prior guidelines on where and how the money shall be disbursed,” he said.

GSIS paintings stayTHE Government Service Insurance

System said Friday it will not sell its prized paintings collection.

GSIS general manager Robert Vergara said the agency had sufficient resources to cover the pension fund’s operation.

“The system has enough liquidity to support its operation, we do not need to sell paintings,” he said.

Vergara added the fund does not have the appetite to acquire more art pieces.

He said the growing number of GSIS pensioners was proof that the agency was expanding its assets.

“The benefits we are paying is contin-uously growing, of course, that is made possible by the good returns we are mak-ing,” he said.

Vergara said the system capped 2013 with 54,000 retirees. Jennifer Ambanta

Belle nets P2.56b

BELLE Corp. said net income in 2014 declined 30 percent to P2.56 billion from P3.64 billion in 2013 on lower recurring income.

Belle said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the lower profit income was due to higher net non-recurring gains of P1.5 billion in 2013. Excluding non-recurring items, Belle’s consolidated net income would have increased 81 per-cent to P1.04 billion from P572 million in 2013.

Operating revenues in 2014 hit P3.16 billion in 2014, up 21 percent from P2.62 billion in 2013.

Belle realized approximately P1.4 bil-lion in recurring operating earnings in 2014, up 62 percent from approximately P857 million in 2013.

The company attributed the positive operating revenues in 2014 to higher rev-enue from its lease of the City of Dreams Manila property to Philippine entities controlled by Melco Crown Entertain-ment Ltd. Jennifer B. Austria

Earth Hour backedMANILA Electric Co., the Philippines’

largest power distributor, expressed full support for Earth Hour 2015, an interna-tional campaign calling for serious and sustained action on global warming and climate change.

The Earth Hour campaign urges peo-ple from all walks of life to turn off essen-tial lights from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. today. Organizations representing civil society, the business community, the religious sector, the youth, national agencies and local governments are also extending support for the event.

The Philippines earned the title of Earth Hour Hero Country after topping participation records from 2009 to 2013.

S AT U R D AY : M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

worldeditorial@thestandard.com.ph

‘China faces a million deaths’

Mahathir mourns ‘strong leader’ Lee

Airplaneco-pilotsuffereddepression

Wild fires. A woman takes pictures of the wild fires raging through Los Alerces National Park, near the Futalaufquen village in the Patagonian province of Chubut, some 1,900 kilometers southwest of Buenos Aires, on March 24. Wildfires raging in southern Chile have wiped out hundreds of plant species and are now threatening animal life as well. AFP

B5CeSAR bARRioqUinToE D I T O R

BERLIN—The Germanwings co-pilot said to have deliberately crashed his Airbus with 149 oth-ers aboard into the French Alps suffered serious depression six years ago, German daily Bild re-ported Friday.

The co-pilot sought psychiatric help for “a bout of heavy depression” in 2009 and was still getting assist-ance from doctors, the newspaper said, quoting documents from Ger-many’s air transport regulator Luft-fahrtbundesamt.

Andreas Lubitz, 28, was re-ceiving “regular private medical” treatment, Bild reported, adding that Germanwings’ parent com-pany Lufthansa had transmitted this information to the LBA. 

Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said that Lubitz had suspended his pilot training, which began in 2008, “for a certain period,” but did not give more details. Lu-bitz later continued and was able to qualify for the Airbus A320 in 2013.

Bild said that during the period of his training setback Lubitz had suffered “depressions and anxiety attacks.”

The pilot’s records were due to be examined by experts in Ger-many Friday before being handed to French investigators, Bild re-ported.

Two properties used by Lu-bitz in western Germany were searched by police late Thursday as officials seek clues into how the outwardly level-headed pilot could have decided to commit what is thought to have been sui-cide and mass murder. AFP

BEIJING—China faces a million deaths a year from antibiotic-resistant super bugs and a loss of $20 tril-lion by 2050, an economist and former top Goldman Sachs executive said Thurs-day.

Beijing should “take ownership” of anti-microbial resistance or AMR when it hosts the G20 summit next year, said Jim O’Neill, the leader of a British government-commis-sioned review on the subject.

“Here is an issue that doesn’t distinguish between religion, color, race,” he said.

“Whether you’re Sunni or Shiite, you’re going to get killed by AMR if we don’t do something about it.”

O’Neill, former chief economist at the US investment bank and chairman of Gold-man Sachs Asset Management, said that the threat put “China’s remarkable economic performance in the last decade and its enor-mous future potential” in jeopardy.

“Drug-resistant infections could cost the Chinese economy 20 trillion USD by 2050, and even more shockingly, cause an addi-tional one million deaths per year,” he said.

The review, announced last year by Brit-ish Prime Minister David Cameron, has found that by 2050, drug-resistant infec-tions could cut global gross domestic prod-uct by 2.0 to 3.5 percent and kill 10 million people a year around the world.

In comparison, cancer now accounts for about 8.2 million deaths a year, according to the review.

Several novel diseases have emerged from China in recent years, including Se-vere Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and human outbreaks of different strains of bird flu.

Beijing has come under criticism in the past for its state-run hospital system, in which medical institutions are heavily de-pendent on antibiotics sales for their rev-enue.

Experts say the system gives incentives to doctors to prescribe unnecessary antibiot-ics, thus exacerbating the problem of drug resistance.

O’Neill—who is known for having coined the BRIC acronym to refer to emerg-ing powers Brazil, Russia, India and Chi-na—acknowledged the issue, telling report-ers: “You’ve got to think of better ways of compensating the medical profession.” AFP

KUALA LUMPUR—Former Malay-sian prime minister Mahathir Moha-mad said Friday he was “saddened” by the death of Singapore’s founding leader Lee Kuan Yew despite their often strained relationship, adding that Southeast Asia had lost a strong leader.

“I cannot say I was a close friend of Kuan Yew. But still I feel sad at his demise,” Mahathir, 89, wrote on his blog. “No matter how friendly or un-friendly we are, the passing away of a man you know well saddens you.

“[The Association of Southeast Asian Nations] lost a strong leader-ship after president Suharto and Lee Kuan Yew,” he added, referring to the former Indonesian leader who died in 2008.

The three contemporaries were ro-bust leaders who played vital roles in

steering their nations from post-colo-nial uncertainty to economic success.

“Now Kuan Yew is no more. His passage marks the end of the period when those who fought for independ-ence led their countries and knew the value of independence,” Mahathir wrote.

Lee died on Monday aged 91 after half a century in government, during which the city-state was transformed from a poor British colonial outpost into one of the world’s richest societies.

Malaysia-Singapore ties have been testy for much of their history after Lee led his nation to independence in 1965 following a brief and stormy un-ion with Malaysia.

The federation broke up amid race riots pitting Malays against Chinese, who made up Singapore’s majority group.

The relationship between Ma-hathir, a Malay, and the ethnic Chi-nese Lee mirrored this tension, with each of them occasionally lobbing criticisms at each others’ nation.

But in his blog posting, Mahathir, who led Malaysia from 1981 to 2003 and still exerts political influence, re-counts first meeting Lee in 1964 when Singapore was still part of Malaysia.

He said they disagreed on “most” issues, but that each of them reached out when the other suffered health problems.

The two men shared a similar gov-erning template that combined an uncompromising position toward dissent—which sometimes landed their political opponents in jail—with policies that helped develop their na-tions into successful “Tiger” econo-mies. AFP

Poetry in motion. Alexandra Paul and Mitchell Islam of Canada compete in the ice dance competition during the 2015 ISU World Figure Skating Championships at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai on March 27. AFP

Pilotswho crashedplanesPARIS—Investigators be-lieve the co-pilot of a Ger-man airliner deliberately crashed the plane into the French Alps earlier this week, killing all 150 people aboard.

While rare, there have been previous such inci-dents in which a pilot or co-pilot have brought down an aircraft.

Mozambique Airlines November 29, 2013: Mo-

zambique Airlines flight TM 470, flying from Maputo to Luanda, goes down in north-eastern Namibia killing 33.

Investigators said the captain had a “clear inten-tion” to crash the plane. They said flight recorders showed the Embraer 190 went down while Cap-tain Herminio dos Santos Fernandes manipulated its autopilot in a way which “denotes a clear intention” to bring the plane down.

EgyptAir October 31, 1999: Egyp-

tAir flight 990, a Boeing 767 en route from New York to Cairo, crashes into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after takeoff, killing all 217 on board.

An analysis of the black boxes showed that the pi-lot caused the accident and declared shortly before the crash: “I have just taken my decision. I put my faith in God’s hands”.

Egyptian authorities, however, rejected the expla-nation of pilot suicide, dis-puting among other things the interpretation of what he said in the black box re-cording.

SilkAir December 19, 1997: A

Singaporean SilkAir Boe-ing 737 plunges into a river in Indonesia on route from Jakarta to Singapore. All 104 passengers and crew aboard were killed. 

US investigators say the captain probably crashed the plane on purpose, while the main investigation led by Indonesia was inconclusive, though it did say pilot suicide was a “plausible hypothesis”.

A report by Singaporean accident investigators at the time said there were indi-cations the flight had been deliberately downed and that the pilot had been in financial difficulties.

However, Singaporean police investigated the claims and found that no member of the crew had any financial problems, and “no evidence that the pilot, co-pilot or any crew mem-ber had suicidal tendencies or a motive to deliberately cause the crash”.

Royal Air MarocAugust 21, 1994: The

pilot of a Royal Air Maroc jet crashes the plane into the Atlas mountains short-ly after taking off from Agadir for Casablanca. All 44 aboard are killed. The probe, based on the last words of the co-pilot, quickly concluded it was suicide.

Japan AirlinesFebruary 9, 1982: A Ja-

pan Airlines DC-8 crashes into Tokyo Bay on approach to Haneda Airport. Twenty four people are killed.

A probe concluded that the pilot, who survived, was mentally unstable.

Pilot suicide is also among the various hy-potheses considered in last year’s disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 with 239 people aboard. The communica-tions system was deliber-ately deactivated and the flight changed course. AFP

Republic of the Philippines ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION

San Miguel Avenue, Pasig City

IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION OF THE NATIONAL GRID CORPORATION OF THE PHILIPPINES FOR THE APPROVAL OF FORCE MAJEURE (FM) EVENT REGULATED FM PASS THROUGH FOR TYPHOON YOLANDA IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE RULES FOR SETTING TRANSMISSION WHEELING RATES, WITH PRAYER FOR PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY

ERC CASE NO. 2014-163 RCNATIONAL GRID CORPORATION OF THE PHILIPPINES (NGCP),

Applicant.x--------------------------------------------x

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARINGTO ALL INTERESTED PARTIES:

Notice is hereby given that on November 5, 2014, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) filed with the Commission an application for the approval of Force Majeure (FM) event regulated FM pass through for Typhoon Yolanda in accordance with the Rules for Setting Transmission Wheeling Rates (RTWR), with prayer for provisional authority.

In the said application, NGCP alleged, among others, the following:1. It is a corporation created and existing under the laws of the Republic of the

Philippines, with principal office address at NGCP Building, Quezon Avenue corner BIR Road, Diliman, Quezon City. It is the concessionaire which assumed the power transmission functions of the National Transmission Corporation (TRANSCO) pursuant to Republic Act No. 9136, otherwise known as the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA);1

2. Under Republic Act No. 95112, it was granted a franchise to construct, install, finance, manage, improve, expand, operate, maintain rehabilitate, repair and refurbish the present nationwide transmission system of the Republic of the Philippines;

3. On January 15, 2009, it assumed transmission functions of TRANSCO including the operation, management and maintenance of the nationwide electrical grid;

Statement of facts and of the case4. On or about 6 November 2013, Typhoon Yolanda entered the Philippine Area of

Responsibility (PAR) with maximum sustained winds of 195 kph near the center and gustiness of 230 kph. On November 7, 2013, Typhoon Yolanda intensified at 235 kph near the center with gustiness of up to 275 kph;

5. On November 8, 2013, Typhoon Yolanda made its first landfall over Guiuan, Eastern Samar around 4:40 a.m., its second landfall over Tolosa, Leyte around 7:00 a.m., its third landfall in Daanbantayan, Cebu around 9:40 am, its fourth landfall over Bantayan Island, Cebu around 10:40 a.m., its fifth landfall in Concepcion, lloilo around 12:00 nn., and its sixth landfall over Busuanga, Palawan around 8:00 p.m. On November 9, 2013, Typhoon Yolanda exited the PAR. A copy of the Certification dated February 4, 2014 issued by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) is attached to the application as Annex “A”;

6. Due to the strong winds and heavy rainfall of Typhoon Yolanda, its transmission assets and other related facilitates in the Visayas area were severely damaged causing massive and widespread power interruption over the area;

7. Immediately, after the devastation of Typhoon Yolanda, it started the repair, restoration and rehabilitation of its damaged transmission assets and other related facilities in order to restore the transmission of electricity in the Visayas area. As a result, it incurred additional cost for the repair, restoration and rehabilitation of the said transmission assets damaged by Typhoon Yolanda;

Force Majeure Event Claim8. Under Section 1.3 of the Rules for Setting Transmission Wheeling Rates (RTWR),

a Force Majeure Event (FME) is defined as follows:“Force Majeure Event

“(a) A typhoon, storm, tropical depression, flood, drought, volcanic eruption, earthquake, tidal wave or landslide; x x x’:

9. Pursuant to the Certification dated February 4, 2014, Yolanda is referred to by the PAGASA as “Typhoon Yolanda” and that it is one of the strongest and disastrous tropical cyclones that entered in the PAR. Thus, in relation to Section 1.3 of the RTWR, Typhoon Yolanda falls within the definition of a FME;

10. In relation to the occurrence of the FME Typhoon Yolanda, pursuant to Section 10.1.1 of the same RTWR, NGCP is allowed to recover the cost it incurred in the repair, restoration, and rehabilitation of its transmission assets and other related facilities damaged by the FME Typhoon Yolanda;

11. Therefore, within three (3) months after the occurrence of the FME Typhoon Yolanda, it filed before the Commission an FME Notice Regarding Typhoon Yolanda dated January 21, 2014, pursuant to Sections 10.2.1 and 10.2.2 of the RTWR. A copy of the FME Notice Regarding Typhoon Yolanda dated January 21, 2014 is attached to the application as Annex “B”;

12. Thereafter, the Commission issued its Letter dated March 7, 2014 acknowledging receipt of NGCP’s FME Notice Regarding Typhoon Yolanda dated January 21, 2014. A copy of the Commission’s Acknowledgment Letter dated March 7, 2014 is attached to the application as Annex “C”;

13. Within twelve (12) months after the occurrence of the FME Typhoon Yolanda, it hereby files the instant FME Claim Application, in accordance with Sections 10.2.1 and 10.2.3 of the RTWR;

Force Majeure Event Computation14. It must be noted that it has not recovered any amount from its Industrial All Risk

(IAR) Insurance Policy procured from the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) for the year 2013 as compensation for the damage and cost it incurred in the repair, restoration and rehabilitation of the transmission assets and other related facilities damaged by the FME Typhoon Yolanda. Thus, it is but proper for it to file the instant application to recover the cost it incurred for the repair, restoration and rehabilitation of its transmission assets and other related facilities damaged by the FME Typhoon Yolanda;

15. According to the PAGASA Certification dated February 4, 2014, the estimated total cost of damage caused by the FME Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines is Eighty-Nine Billion Five Hundred Ninety-Eight Million Pesos (Php89.598Bn).3In relation to this, the cost NGCP incurred as additional Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) for the repair, restoration and rehabilitation of its transmission assets and other related facilities damaged by the FME Typhoon Yolanda, including the recoverable values of the assets destroyed is Two Billion Five Hundred Sixty-Nine Million Two Hundred Seventy Thousand Three Hundred Twenty and 87/100 Pesos (PhP2,569,270,320.87)4;

16. It proposes the FM Pass Through Amount, in P/kW-month, as additional network charges in the Visayas starting the billing period of January 2015 to December 2020 or until such time that the amount incurred is fully recovered, computed as shown in the table below:

1 Republic Act No. 9136 entitled, “An Act Ordaining Reforms in the Electric Power Industry, Amending for the Purpose Certain Laws and for Other Purposes”

2 Republic Act No. 9511 entitled, “An Act Granting the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines a Franchise to Engage in the Business of Conveying or Transmitting Electricity Through High Voltage Backbone System or Interconnected Transmission Lines, Substations and Related Facilities, and for Other Purposes.”

3 Please see Annex “A” of the application.

Visayas 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020P/kW-mo. 84.3797 11.3429 10.6888 10.0732 9.5042 8.9608

P/kWh 0.1874 0.0257 0.0241 0.0227 0.0214 0.020117. It proposes the FM Pass Through Amounts for the years 2016 to 2020 to allow

the recovery of the CAPEX incurred relative to the FME Typhoon Yolanda should there be a delay in the reset process for the Transmission Services for the Fourth (4th) Regulatory Period (RP);

18. Although the instant FME Claim is not included in its Third (3rd) Regulatory Reset Application, the same can be recovered during the 3rd RP pursuant to Section 10.1.1 of the RTWR where it is allowed to recover the cost incurred for the repair, restoration, and rehabilitation of damage sustained by its transmission assets and other related facilities as a result of the FME. A copy of the FME Claim Computation is attached to the application as Annex “D”;

19. Further, due to the extent of damage to its transmission assets and other related facilities which required massive repair and restoration activities in the Visayas, the FME Claim under this application breached the Force Majeure Threshold Amount (FMTA) of PhP0.0336/kWh. A copy of the FMTA Computation is attached to the application as Annex “E”;

20. Also, it considered the Net Fixed Asset Value of the transmission assets and other related facilities damaged by the FME Typhoon Yolanda in the calculation of the FM Pass-Excluding Permit Fees Through Amount given that it would have normally fully recovered the return of capital on said assets for the duration of their economic lives had these assets not been damaged or destroyed by the FME Typhoon Yolanda;

Justification for the Issuance of Provisional Authority21. It moves for the issuance of a provisional approval for the immediate recovery of

the FME Claim pursuant to Section 3, Rule 14 of the ERC Rules of Practice and Procedure;

22. It needs to immediately recover the actual expenses incurred for the repair, restoration and rehabilitation of the damaged transmission assets and other related facilities. It must be emphasized that the occurrence of the aforementioned FME Typhoon Yolanda required massive capital infusion, thus, the recovery of which should be allowed immediately in order to avoid any financial strain in its operation and to allow the continuous provision of transmission service to the grid customers;

23. In addition, the timely implementation of the FM pass-through amount will allow the equal or even spread of the increases or decreases in tariffs from the initial implementation of the recovery of the cost;

24. A copy of the Judicial Affidavit of Agnes F. Dela Cruz, Head, Tariff Design and Billing Management Division, Revenue and Regulatory Affairs, in support of the instant application, is attached to the application as Annex “F”; and

Prayer25. It most prays of the Commission to:

a. Grant provisional approval to implement and bill the FM Pass-Through Amounts to Visayas customers starting January 2015 billing month to December 2020 billing month or until such time that the amount incurred is fully recovered:

Visayas 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020P/kW-mo. 84.3797 11.3429 10.6888 10.0732 9.5042 8.9608

P/kWh 0.1874 0.0257 0.0241 0.0227 0.0214 0.0201

b. Declare the Typhoon Yolanda as Force Majeure Event (FME);c. Approve the CAPEX it incurred for the repair, restoration and rehabilitation of

the damaged transmission assets and other related facilities due to the FME Typhoon Yolanda;

d. Approve, after due notice and hearing, the proposed FM Pass Through Amount to be collected from the Visayas customers starting January 2015 billing month to December 2020 billing month or until such time that the amount incurred is fully recovered as shown in the table below:

Visayas 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020P/kW-mo. 84.3797 11.3429 10.6888 10.0732 9.5042 8.9608

P/kWh 0.1874 0.0257 0.0241 0.0227 0.0214 0.0201

e. Approve and allow the recovery of the Net Fixed Asset Value of the transmission assets and other related facilities damaged by the FME Typhoon Yolanda in the amount of One Billion One Hundred Fourteen Million Six Hundred Seventy-Seven Thousand Two Hundred Eighty-Two and 90/100 Pesos (PhP 1,114,677,282.90) as part of the FM Pass Through Amount given that the said amount would have been fully recovered by it if these transmission assets and other related facilities have not been damaged or destroyed by Typhoon Yolanda as FME; and

f. Exclude the proposed Pass-Through Amount from the side constraint calculation.

Finding the said application sufficient in form and substance with the required fees having been paid, the same is hereby set for jurisdictional hearing, expository presentation, pre- trial conference and evidentiary hearing on the following dates and venues:

The Commission has set the application for jurisdictional hearing, expository presentation, pre-trial conference and evidentiary hearing on the following dates and venues:

DATE TIME VENUE PARTICULARS

April 22, 2015 (Wednesday)

Nine o’clock in the morning (9:00 A.M.)

ERC Visayas Field Office, St. Mary’s

Drive, Banilad, Cebu City

Jurisdictional Hearing and

Expository Presentation

May 13, 2015 (Wednesday)

Nine o’clock in the morning (9:00 A.M.)

ERC Hearing Room, 15th Floor, Pacific Center Building,

San Miguel Avenue, Pasig City

Pre-Trial Conference and Evidentiary Hearing

May 14, 2015 (Thursday)

Nine o’clock in the morning (9:00 A.M.)

Continuation of Evidentiary Hearing

All persons who have an interest in the subject matter of the proceeding may become a party by filing, at least five (5) days prior to the initial hearing and subject to the requirements in the ERC’s Rules of Practice and Procedure, a verified petition with the Commission giving the docket number and title of the proceeding and stating: (1) the petitioner’s name and address; (2) the nature of petitioner’s interest in the subject matter of the proceeding, and the way and manner in which such interest is affected by the issues involved in the proceeding; and (3) a statement of the relief desired.

All other persons who may want their views known to the Commission with respect to the subject matter of the proceeding may file their opposition to the application or comment thereon at any stage of the proceeding before the applicant concludes the presentation of its evidence. No particular form of opposition or comment is required, but the document, letter or writing should contain the name and address of such person and a concise statement of the opposition or comment and the grounds relied upon.

All such persons who may wish to have a copy of the application may request the applicant, prior to the date of the initial hearing, that they be furnished with a copy of the application. The applicant is hereby directed to furnish all those making such request with copies of the application and its attachments, subject to reimbursement of reasonable photocopying costs. Likewise, any such person may examine the application and other pertinent records filed with the Commission during the usual office hours.

WITNESS, the Honorable Chairperson, ZENAIDA G. CRUZ-DUCUT, and the Honorable Commissioners, ALFREDO J. NON, GLORIA VICTORIA C. YAP-TARUC, and JOSEFINA PATRICIA A. MAGPALE-ASIRIT, Energy Regulatory Commission, this 9th day of March, 2015 at Pasig City.

ATTY. FRANCIS SATURNINO C. JUAN Executive Director III

The New Standard – March 21 & 28, 2015

B7JOEL D. L ACSAMANAE D I T O RPROPERTY

j d l a c s a m a n a @ g m a i l . c o m

S AT U R D AY : M A R C H 2 8 : 2 0 1 5

SM PRIME DRAWS BEAD ON SURGING BPO SECTOR

SM Prime Holdings Inc. is aggressively setting up e-com-merce (E-Com)

centers in the country to address the growing de-mand for offices from the fast-growing business pro-cessing outsourcing (BPO) industry in the Philippines David Rafael, SM Prime’s senior vice president, said the company is building more E-Com centers at the Mall of Asia (MOA) Com-plex in Pasay City, in particu-lar, because of the sustained expansion of this industry, one of the top drivers of the Philippine economy.

WINNING STREAK“We are investing heavily on mixed-use infrastructure to cater to the demand of the BPO sector, which is on a winning streak,” he said. The local BPO industry continued to shine1  last

year, recording a 19-per-cent growth in revenues to $18.4 billion, fuelled by the rising demand for outsourced services from the healthcare information management, gaming and animation and global in-house center segments. A total of 1.03 million outsourced professionals were employed in 2014. This year, the industry is ex-pected to hit $21.3 billion in revenues, and employ a total of 1.18 million agents. “This is a clear sign that more and more players will be coming into the Philip-pines. These companies would require office spaces in prime and strategic lo-cations such as the MOA Complex,” Rafael said.

BAY AREA SPRUCE-UPSM Prime is banking on the 67-hectare MOA Com-plex as a suitable location

for outsourcing companies that are in need of office space.  This year, the office space at the Bay Area will only be supplied by Five E-Com, which is already 50-percent pre-leased. Targeted to start commer-cial operations in April, Five E-Com center is a 15-storey building that is designed by Miami-based architectural company Arquitectonica. Aside from office busi-nesses, the E-Com centers are envisioned to become a prime entertainment com-plex that could host confer-ences, meetings, and social

and corporate events and gatherings. Five E-Com joins the company’s nationwide port-folio of properties, which include: Two E-Com center, SM Makati Cyber One, SM Makati Cyber Two, SM Cy-ber Baguio and SM Cyber West in Quezon City. Rafael said SM Prime is planning to build more E-Com centers at the Mall of Asia Complex, namely: Three E-Com, which is currently be-ing constructed (target date of completion is 2017), and Four E-Com,  which is  scheduled for ground breaking in 2019. 

PITCHING THE ‘LIVE-WORK-PLAY’ CONCEPT. SM Prime senior executive David Rafael was bullish on developments in the outsourcing industry in the Philippines, “one of the top players in the global outsourcing arena.”

MIXED USE HUBS. At 15 storeys apiece, the planned E-Com centers will serve as iconic business, lifestyle hubs for BPOs, and other enterprises that require office space.

AMAIA STEPS LAUNCHED IN BACOLOD CITY

Ayala Land recently launched a new mixed-use development in Bacolod City called Capitol Central. The residential component of the Capitol Central development is Amaia Steps Capitol Central - a mid-rise project with nine floors and 288 residential units for its North Building. Ayala Land subsidiary, Amaia Land Corp, is the group behind this project which is located along San Juan St., Brgy. 8.Capitol Central  is the first master-planned, mixed-use community in Bacolod, stretching across 9 hectares of prime land and is envisioned to be the growth center of the province.  “We are truly excited to bring Ayala Land’s expertise in developing communities to Bacolod,” said Bobby Dy, Ayala Land president during the ground-breaking cer-emonies. “Bacolod is a key development area, and a city facing rapid growth.” “This marks a historic event for Negros Occidental as we break ground on one of the biggest development projects in our province,” said Negros Occidental Gover-nor Alfredo Marañon, Jr.  “What used to be an idle piece of land for many decades will now be transformed into a center of economic activity.”

SPRUCING UP BACOLOD. Bobby Dy (fourth from right), Ayala Land president leads the launch of Capitol Central, Ayala Land’s first mixed-use estate in Bacolod City.  From left to right: Ricky Celis, Amaia Land presi-dent; Jun Bisnar, Ayala Land vice President; Emilio Tumbocon, Ayala Land senior vice president;  Mayor Monico Puentevella; Governor Alfredo Marañon, Jr; Dan Abando, MDC president; Rowena Tomeldan, Ayala Land vice president; and Al Legaspi, Ayala Land vice president.

TURNING THAI IN DAVAO. Real estate developer Torre Lorenzo Development Corporation (Torre Lorenzo) is building four luxury developments in the next five years, beginning with Siam 8000, the company’s first master-planned luxury residential community in Davao City. The Php 2-billion project is a partnership venture between Torre Lorenzo and Asian hospitality brand Dusit International. Siam 8000, located along Maryknoll Drive in Lanang, underpins a tremendous vote of confidence in Davao as an emerging tourism and property destination. Torre Lorenzo’s real estate project pipeline will also include property ventures such as the Dusit D2 Hotel and the exclusive Lubi Plantation Membership Club, both in Kopiat Island, Davao.

Uptown Bonifacio, the 15.4-hectare inte-grated urban township in Fort Bonifacio, recently introduced an ‘all suites’ residen-tial condominium concept with Uptown Ritz Residence.

Real estate developer Megaworld, con-ceptualized the ambitious layout in Up-town Bonifacio. In Uptown Ritz Residence, all units offer two- to four-bedrooms (ranging from 78 sq. meters to 167 sq. meters), at six units per floor.

This all-glass and aluminum tower will have a bi-level podium amenity deck with a fitness center overlooking a swimming pool and spa complex, children’s play-ground, nursery and function rooms. set the bar higher in luxury living,” said Noli D. Hernandez, Megaworld’s senior vice-president for sales and marketing. “What we are offering at Uptown Ritz are spacious units that overlook the views of the Fort Bonifacio and Makati central business district,” Uptown Bonifacio is one of Megaworld’s 15 townships in its portfolio. The company has allocated P65-billion to develop the township within 10 to 20 years.

SIGNATURE TOWNSHIP. Uptown Ritz Residence will be in the middle of Fort Bonifacio’s newest corporate playground, Uptown Bonifacio. The township will offer office sites and a commercial centre at the doorstep of its residential condominiums.

‘ALL-SUITES’ CONDO LIFESTYLE IN UPTOWN BONIFACIO

PROPERTYj d l a c s a m a n a @ g m a i l . c o m

B8 JOEL D. L ACSAMANAE D I T O R

S AT U R D AY : M A R C H 2 8 : 2 0 1 5

If you live in Quezon City, you would want a condo in the pick of perfection by way of amenities, services and of course, location. Rockwell Primaries’ first project, 53 Benitez, located at P. Tuazon corner C. Benitez in Quezon City, could very well fit those needs to a tee. The development can be reached through major thoroughfares, and is close to key schools and universities, hospitals, retail shops, and churches in town. With seven residential floors in two towers, 53 Benitez is big enough for young families. Best of all, the two and three-bedroom designs present possibilities for homeowners to transform their units to any flexible permutation they deem necessary. Now that’s living the Quezon City dream.

PICK OF THE LOT

The Laguna Lake Develop-ment Authority (LLDA) recently unveiled a two-wing, four-storey build-

ing in Quezon City that features the Philippines’ � rst Bio Roof—an enhanced green roof system that mitigates the negative e� ects of urban land use. A pioneering idea from La-farge Republic Inc. both the building, and the green roof, re� ects the mandate of the LLDA to protect the country’s largest freshwater lake. � e 5,600-square-meter facility fea-tures its own water treatment fa-cility, materials recovery facility, and a rain collection system that can hold 60,000 gallons of water. Rapid urbanization in the Phil-ippines has given rise to many challenges as increasing infra-structure developments continue to reduce open spaces and in-crease energy consumption. Both the public and pri-vate construction sectors have responded by reshaping the cityscape and building struc-tures that are as environmentally responsive as they are beautiful

and compact. Now, buildings should not only be sturdy and spacious—they should also be “green”, e� cient in energy con-sumption and adaptive to the changing environment.

RE-IMAGINING GREEN ROOFS� e LLDA building features a 150-square-meter Bio Roof that helps reduce cooling needs through shading and insulation. � e Bio Roof, unlike container gardens where plants are grown in pots, is integrated within the building’s structure. Its vegetative layer protects the waterproof-ing membrane from climatic extremes, UV exposure and me-chanical damage, and increases the life span of the roof. Engineer Erickson De Guzman, Facilities Manager of LLDA, said the Bio Roof helps them become more e� cient, particularly with water conservation. “� e aggre-gates in the Bio Roof hold the wa-ter and nutrients for the plants and reduces our watering cycle to only three times a week,” he said. Bio Roof also has an underly-

ing layer of natural lightweight aggregates called the BioLite™, which promotes healthy plant growth by allowing good drain-age and preventing asphyxiation of the roots.

BREATHING SPACEDe Guzman is upbeat that in fu-ture, government o� ces would adopt the Bio Roof. “We hope to open the building, once it’s fully completed, to school and private tours, to increase public aware-ness,” he said. Lafarge vice president for marketing Victor Janolino like-wise expressed optimism for Bio Roof in a tropical country like the Philippines. He said it contributes many bene� ts to a building’s aspects, including im-proved cooling, better energy ef-� ciency and water management, and the conversion of idle roofs to green spaces. “It is a re� ection of our com-mitment to build better cities—a complete construction solu-tion to help address some of the many challenges of urbaniza-tion,” Janolino said.

GREEN ROOFS BY LAFARGE

ON TREATED POND. The LLDA building features an

engineered pond which serves as a representation of the Laguna Lake, and a catchment for treated water.